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on  Qloflrsc  Subjects. 


AMERICAN  COLLEGES:  THEIR  STUDENTS 
AND    WORK. 


WITHIN    COLLEGE    WALLS. 
THE    COLLEGE   WOMAN. 


THE  AMERICAN  COLLEGE  IN  AMERICAN 
LIFE. 


THE  CHOICE  OF  A  COLLEGE  FOR  A  BOY. 
COLLEGE    ADMINISTRATION. 


COLLEGE 
ADMINISTRATION 


COLLEGE 
ADMINISTRATION 


BY 


CHARLES  F.  THWING,   LL.D. 

PRESIDENT   OF    WESTERN    RESERVE    UNIVERSITY    AND 
ADELBERT   COLLEGE 


NEW  YORK 

£be  Century  Co. 

1900 


Copyright,  1900,  by 
The  Century  Co. 


The  DeVinne  Press 


Education 
Library 


LB 

234  1 


TO 

CHARLES  W.   ELIOT,   LL.D., 
THE   GREAT   PRESIDENT 


762443 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

This  is,  I  think,  the  first  book 
published  on  the  administration 
of  the  American  college.  It  grows 
out  of  my  own  reflection,  work, 
experience,  and  reading.  Many 
limitations,  of  course,  rest  upon  it. 
It  makes  its  special  appeal,  too, 
to  a  small  constituency.  But  this 
constituency,  although  small,  is 
of  great  influence  in  all  funda- 
mental relations.  Its  subject,  too, 
is  of  unique  value  in  the  endeavor 
to  relate  the  American  college 
and  university  more  vitally  to 
American  life.  C.  F.  T. 


Western  Reserve  University, 
Cleveland. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

i  Introduction  :    The  Organization  of  Amer- 
ican Education 1 

ii  The  Constitution  of  the  American  College    21 

in  The  College  President 49 

iv  Special  Conditions  and  Methods  of  Adminis- 
tration          .85 

v  The  Government  of  Students         .        .        .113 

vi  Financial  Relations 155 

vh  Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems  of 

the  Twentieth  Century       ....  261 

Index 317 


I 

INTRODUCTION:    THE   ORGANIZATION 
OF  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 


COLLEGE  ADMINISTRATION 

I 

INTRODUCTION:  THE   ORGANIZATION 
OF  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

EDUCATION  in  the  United  States  is  not  so 
much  disorganized  as  it  is  unorganized.  It  is 
not  so  much  unorganized  as  it  is  the  subject  of 
cross  and  various  organizations.  It  is  in  certain 
relations  overorganized.  The  units  of  organiza- 
tion are  many,  diverse,  and  often  cover  identical 
conditions.  The  national  unit  is  lacking,  unless 
one  should  desire  to  call  the  Bureau  of  Education 
such  a  unit.  Yet  the  designation  would  not  be 
fitting,  for  the  function  of  the  Bureau  is  largely 
limited  to  the  collection  and  distribution  of  in- 
formation. It  has  no  power  to  enforce  its  sugges- 
tions, and  its  directions  are  largely  suggestions. 
Each  State  is  an  educational  unit.  By  its  constitu- 
tion, or  bill  of  rights  or  legislation,  are  determined 
the  educational  conditions  and  practices  which  ob- 
tain within  its  boundaries.  In  certain  States  the 
county  plays  a  large  educational  part,  but  in  other 
States,  and  especially  in  the  older  and  Eastern, 
the  county  seldom  exercises  educational  functions. 

i 


The  Organisation  of  American  Education 

Each  town  or  municipality  represents  a  third  cen- 
ter in  which  the  educational  interests  unite  and 
whence  they  radiate.  In  each  town  or  city,  too, 
each  school  district  represents  a  center ;  and,  also, 
each  school  and  each  room  in  each  school  stands 
for  a  point  of  information  and  of  instruction. 
Such  coordinated  relationships  obtain  largely  in 
the  public-school  system.  By  the  side  of  them  all 
are  found  the  private  school  and  academy,  the  col- 
lege, the  university,  and  the  professional  school, 
each  still  deriving  its  corporate  power  and  right  of 
administration  from  the  commonwealth. 

And  yet,  although  these  conditions  seem  simple 
enough,  closer  inspection  reveals  various  cross- 
divisions  and  complex  relations.  We  have  high 
schools  that  do  the  work  of  grammar  schools,  and 
grammar  schools  that  do  the  work  of  the  first  year 
of  the  high  school.  "We  have  high  schools  that  do  a 
part,  at  least,  of  the  work  of  colleges,  and  we  have 
also  colleges  that  are  willing  to  do  a  part  of  the  work 
properly  belonging  to  the  fitting-schools.  We  have 
colleges  that  in  their  last  year  are  essentially  pro- 
fessional schools,  and  we  have  also  universities  that 
have  only  one  department,  and  that  the  college; 
and  also  be  it  added,  we  have  universities  that  are 
rather  schools  preparatory  to  the  college  than  col- 
leges or  universities  themselves.  President  Oilman 
has  said :  "  Poor  and  feeble  schools,  sometimes  in- 
tended for  the  destitute,  beg  support  on  the  ground 
that  they  are  universities.  The  name  has  been 
given  to  a  school  of  arts  and  trades,  to  a  school  of 
modern  languages,  and  to  a  school  in  which  only 

2 


The  Organisation  of  American  Education 

primary  studies  are  taught.  Not  only  so,  but  many 
graduates  of  old  and  conservative  institutions,  if 
we  may  judge  from  recent  writings,  are  at  sea. 
There  are  those  who  think  a  university  can  be 
made  by  so  christening  it;  others  who  suppose 
that  the  gift  of  a  million  is  the  only  requisite ;  it  is 
often  said  that  the  establishment  of  four  faculties 
constitutes  a  university ;  there  is  a  current  notion 
that  a  college  without  a  religion  is  a  university; 
and  another  that  a  college  without  a  curriculum  is 
a  university.  I  have  even  read  in  the  newspapers 
the  description  of  a  building  which  '  will  be,  when 
finished,  the  finest  university  in  the  country ' ;  and 
I  know  of  a  school  for  girls,  the  trustees  of  which 
not  only  have  the  power  to  confer  all  degrees,  but 
may  designate  a  board  of  lady  managers  possessing 
the  same  powers."  ("  University  Problems,"  p.  85.) 

We  have  polytechnic  or  scientific  schools  pur- 
posing to  give  a  liberal  education,  and  not  a  pro- 
fessional, and  we  have  also  colleges  of  liberal 
culture  establishing  technical  courses.  We  have 
professional  schools  apart  from  any  college  or  uni- 
versity, and  we  have  them  also  as  a  part  of  a 
university.  Such  are  some  of  the  relations  of  an 
organization  which  might  be  called  overorganized 
or  badly  organized,  rather  than  unorganized.  It 
might  be  said  that  the  organization  is  such  that  it 
results  in  disorganization. 

But,  bad  as  the  organization  or  lack  of  organiza- 
tion of  American  schools  may  be,  the  lack  of  organ- 
ization in  English  schools  is  incomparably  worse 
The  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  found 

3 


The  Organisation  of  American  Education 

elementary  education  in  England  absolutely  with- 
out system.  The  course  of  the  century  has  wit- 
nessed the  introduction  of  various  systems  which 
have,  in  certain  relations,  kept  pace  with  the  im- 
provement and  the  moral  elevation  of  the  schools. 
But  the  close  of  the  century  still  finds  English 
education  controlled  and  subjected  to  the  evils  of 
a  lack  of  organization,  and  to  all  the  other  evils  of 
manifold  systems  The  established  and  the  non- 
conformist, the  board  and  the  voluntary,  the  local 
and  the  national,  the  elementary  and  the  secon- 
dary elements  represent  the  educational  condition 
and  forces  which  are  inextricably  mingled  and 
commingled.  Compromise  has  been  the  rule  of 
educational  progress  in  England  far  more  than  in 
America ;  and  compromise  has  resulted,  as  is  not 
unusual,  in  confusion. 

In  Germany  the  opposite  method  has,  on  the 
whole,  prevailed.  In  the  present  century  the 
state,  and  the  state  alone,  has  been  the  controlling 
power  in  the  education  of  the  people.  Before  this 
century  the  church  was  the  controlling  force.  To- 
day the  power  of  the  church  in  education  is 
manifested  through  the  state  and  through  the 
universities,  and  not  through  the  church's  own 
methods.  The  university  affords  theological  train- 
ing, and  the  university  is  in  the  power  of  the  state, 
and  the  state  therefore  prescribes  the  course  of  re- 
ligious training  in  the  schools.  The  rule  of  the 
state  has  resulted  in  uniformity. 

American  education  should  have  a  center  in 
which  every  purpose  for  its  promotion  may  be  local- 

4 


The  Organisation  of  American  Education 

ized,  and  from  which  every  plan  for  its  develop- 
ment may  rise.  This  center  is  found  in  the  being 
of  the  child  himself.  The  child  himself  is  the 
smallest  unit  in  education,  and  he  is  also  the  great- 
est. The  unit  which  may  be  suggested  either  by 
taxation  or  by  partizanship,  by  the  tenure  of  office 
of  the  teacher  or  by  the  splendor  of  the  educational 
machinery,  by  geographical  considerations  or  by 
similarity  of  intellectual  conditions,  is  of  no  value 
whatsoever  in  comparison  with  the  worth  of  the 
child.  The  only  unit  deserving  of  mention  in  com- 
parison with  the  worth  of  the  child  lies  in  the  pur- 
pose of  the  promotion  of  knowledge.  For  the  higher 
education  is  organized,  and  should  be  organized,  not 
only  for  the  human  purpose  of  training  humanity, 
but  for  the  scholastic  purpose  of  extending  the 
bounds  of  knowledge. 

As  one  thinks  of  the  organization  of  education 
about  the  student,  several  points,  among  many, 
become  significant.  The  content  of  his  study,  the 
method  of  his  study,  the  atmosphere  of  his  study, 
and  the  personality  of  the  teacher  are  of  supreme 
and  ultimate  importance.  But  of  them  I  shall  write 
chiefly  of  the  worth  of  the  content  of  study  and  of 
the  personality  of  the  teacher. 

The  content  of  the  study  of  the  student  before 
the  age  of  entering  college  must  be  largely  descrip- 
tive and  interpretative.  This  content  relates  to  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge.  This  knowledge  is  sim- 
ply descriptive  and  interpretative  of  the  facts  of  the 
material  world  and  of  life.  Arithmetic,  for  instance, 
is  simply  interpretative  of  time,  and  geometry  is 

5 


The  Organisation  of  American  Education 

an  interpretation  or  description  of  space;  gram- 
mar is  a  description  of  the  way  in  which  the  best 
people  talk ;  history  is  a  description  of  what  the 
world  of  men  has  done,  and  science  is  a  description 
of  the  world  of  nature.  This  period  of  descrip- 
tion belongs  to  the  acquisitive  period  of  a  student's 
career.  It  leads  into,  and  in  its  higher  ranges  is 
touched  by,  the  method  of  comparison.  The  col- 
lege is  the  means  or  the  method  of  the  comparative 
process  and  condition  in  education.  Of  course,  the 
former  method  of  description  still  thrusts  its  way 
into  the  field  of  comparative  knowledge.  The  first 
year  of  the  college  is  much  like  the  last  year  of  the 
high  school  or  academy;  the  second  year  is  less 
like  it;  and  in  the  last  two  years  the  method  of 
comparison  quite  supplants  the  method  of  acquisi- 
tion of  the  earlier  time.  The  comparative  method 
is  at  once  the  deductive  and  the  inductive  method, 
and  it  is  more  than  either  deduction  or  induction. 
In  the  comparative  stages  of  the  college  course  the 
student  relates  truth  to  truth,  fact  to  fact,  not  only 
in  one  or  the  same  field,  but  also  in  different  fields. 
Truths  which  once  appeared  as  far  apart  as  the  poles 
now  become  closely  and  vitally  associated.  Geog- 
raphy, which  once  seemed  to  him  a  science  apart 
from  man,  is  now  known  to  hold  essential  relations 
to  history.  Ethnography,  which  once  seemed  a 
study  quite  apart  from  geology,  is  seen  to  hold  a 
relation  of  cause  and  effect  to  geology.  Psychology 
and  philosophy  are  seen  to  exist  in  intimate  asso- 
ciation with  the  sciences  of  biology  and  of  physics, 
and  biology  and  physics  are  found  to  exist  in  close 

6 


The  Organisation  of  American  Education 

relations  with  psychology  and  philosophy.  The 
different  sciences  themselves,  too,  prove  to  be  in 
close  relationship.  Biology  is  closely  related  to 
chemistry.  Chemistry,  in  turn,  is  fonnd  to  be  re- 
lated no  less  closely  to  geology.  In  the  earlier 
stages  of  his  education  the  student  was  concerned 
with  facts;  he  is  now  concerned  with  relations. 
In  the  earlier  stages  he  was  concerned  with  acquisi- 
tion, with  description,  and  with  interpretation; 
in  the  later  stages  he  is  concerned  primarily  with 
comparisons.  In  the  earlier  stages  the  simple  truth 
was  primary  and  the  relations  of  different  truths 
secondary.  In  the  later  stages  the  relations  of 
different  truths  is  of  primary,  and  the  truth  itself 
of  secondary,  value. 

But  there  is  a  third  stage  in  the  organization  of 
American  education  about  the  student.  This  stage 
may  be  called  that  of  research.  The  student  be- 
comes himself  a  discoverer  of  the  truth.  The  sec- 
ond stage  of  comparison  passes  into  the  third  stage 
of  enlargement.  He  himself  is  concerned  not  only 
with  relations,  but  also  with  the  discovery  of  rela- 
tions. He  is  concerned,  as  in  the  first  stage,  with 
the  knowledge  of  facts,  but  he  is  also  concerned, 
and  more,  with  the  discovery  of  facts  for  himself. 
This  third  stage  belongs  to  the  scholar  par  excel- 
lence. Into  it  only  a  few  ultimately  pass.  Here 
are  found  those  searchers  for  truth  and  for 
truths,  few  in  number  in  any  generation,  but 
which,  though  few,  are  of  the  most  essential  value 
for  the  promotion  of  knowledge  and  for  the  better- 
ment of  the  nation  and  of  humanity. 

7 


The  Organisation  of  American  Education 

When  the  student  is  able  to  perceive  relations 
he  may  be  said  to  be  educated.  The  training 
up  to  this  stage  has  been  general.  He  is  now 
fitted  to  enter  upon  his  special  education  for 
rendering  service  to  that  form  of  humanity  to 
which  he  proposes  to  devote  himself.  He  has  not 
become  fitted  for  the  ministry,  but  he  has  become 
fitted  to  begin  to  fit  for  the  ministry.  He  has  not 
become  fitted  for  the  law,  but  he  has  become  fitted 
to  fit  for  the  law.  He  has  not  become  fitted  for 
medicine,  he  cannot  practise  the  art  of  healing,  but 
he  has  become  fitted  to  fit  himself  to  become  a  doc- 
tor.   The  special  professional  study  awaits  him. 

The  age  at  which  the  student  is  able  to  begin  his 
professional  studies  or  career  is  of  serious  impor- 
tance when  one  locates  the  unit  of  American  edu- 
cation in  the  student  himself.  This  age  has  been 
increasing.  The  age  of  graduating  from  college  has 
gradually  increased  throughout  the  century.  In 
1856  the  average  age  of  admission  to  Harvard  Col- 
lege was  seventeen  years  seven  and  three  six- 
teenths months.  In  1866  it  had  increased  to 
eighteen  years  two  and  five  twelfths  months,  and 
in  1875  it  had  increased  to  eighteen  years  six 
and  two  thirds  months.  In  the  last  ten  years  for 
most  colleges  eighteen  and  a  half  years  represents 
the  average  age  at  admission  to  the  freshman 
class.  (President  Eliot's  Eeport  for  1874-75,  p.  8.) 
The  cause  of  this  condition  lies,  in  part,  in  the 
enlargement  of  the  conditions  for  admission  which 
the  colleges  are  now  laying  down.  These  con- 
ditions have  vastly  enlarged  both  in  the  number 

8 


The  Organization  of  American  Education 

of  the  subjects  prescribed  and  in  the  knowledge 
required  of  each  subject.  A  more  extended  know- 
ledge of  Latin  and  of  Greek  is  demanded,  and 
also  at  least  an  elementary  knowledge  of  one 
or  two  modern  languages  and  of  the  physical 
sciences.  These  conditions  have  been  so  increased 
that  the  high  schools  and  academies  have  in 
thirty  years  lengthened  their  course  from  three 
years  to  four.  In  the  same  period  has  occurred  a 
lengthening  of  the  course  of  the  medical  college 
and  of  the  law  school,  in  the  one  case  from  two 
or  three  years  to  four  and  in  the  other  from  two 
years  to  three.  The  college  is  in  danger  of  being 
ground  to  pieces  between  the  under  millstone  of 
the  preparatory  school  and  the  upper  millstone  of 
the  professional  school. 

In  the  organization  of  American  education,  there- 
fore, about  the  student,  the  question  becomes  of 
importance  respecting  the  time  in  which  the  stu- 
dent ceases  to  be  a  student  and  becomes  an  active 
worker  in  American  life.  Various  methods  for 
securing  the  important  result  of  an  earlier  en- 
trance into  his  career  have  been  suggested.  One 
of  these  methods  is  to  make  the  last  years  of  the 
college  course,  at  least  in  part,  an  equivalent  to  the 
first  years  of  the  professional  course.  In  certain 
cases  the  last  year  of  the  college  course  becomes 
practically  identical  with  the  first  year  of  the  pro- 
fessional course.  In  other  cases  certain  studies 
are  taken  by  the  senior  in  college  which  are  also 
taken  by  the  first-year  man  in  the  professional 
school,  and  these   studies  are   allowed  to   count 

9 


The  Organisation  of  American  Education 

toward  both  the  bachelor's  degree  and  the  profes- 
sional  degree.  By  this  method  the  student  in  the 
law  school  can  receive  his  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Laws  in  six  years,  and  the  student  in  the  medical 
college  can  receive  his  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine 
in  seven  years.  This  method  obtains  in  several  of 
the  more  historic  and  more  conspicuous  of  our 
colleges.  A  few  colleges,  and  good  ones  too,  are 
intimating  that  the  whole  educational  period  may 
be  shortened  by  yet  an  additional  year,  giving  two 
degrees  to  the  law  student  in  five,  and  to  the  medi- 
cal student  in  six,  years.  It  is  to  be  said  that  a  year 
in  one's  life  and  in  one's  professional  career  is  of 
great  value,  and  it  is  also  to  be  said,  and  with 
emphasis,  that  a  single  year  is  not  of  value  in  com- 
parison with  the  value  of  one's  professional  service. 
It  is  far  better  to  enrich  the  value  of  that  service 
than  to  lengthen  out  the  time  of  that  service  by  a 
few  months.  But  in  order  to  secure  the  purpose 
of  an  earlier  entrance  into  his  life's  work  for  the 
college-bred  man  a  better  method  than  that  of  the 
duplication  of  a  single  year  lies  in  the  endeavor  to 
save  a  year  or  two  years  in  the  earlier  stages  of 
education.  A  year  is  a  year  whether  it  be  the 
seventh  or  the  seventeenth.  The  battle  for  an 
earlier  entrance  into  life  is  to  be  fought  on  the 
floor  of  the  grammar  and  primary  school-room. 
The  question  is  how  to  get  the  student  out  of  the 
grammar  school  earlier  by  a  year  or  two  years 
rather  than  how  to  get  him  sooner  out  of  college. 
The  simple  fact  is  that  the  work  of  the  eight  years 
of  the  primary  and  grammar  schools  could  still 

10 


The  Organisation  of  American  Education 

be  clone  with  ease  in  six  years  in  the  case  of  many 
students.  If  the  student  enter  the  public  schools 
at  the  age  of  six  he  should  be  able  to  enter  the 
high  school  at  the  age  of  twelve ;  if  he  enter  the 
high  school  at  the  age  of  twelve,  as  he  should,  he 
should  enter  the  college  at  the  age  of  sixteen;  if 
he  should  leave  college  at  the  age  of  twenty,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-three  or  twenty-four  he  should 
be  and  would  be  ready  for  life's  career.  As  says 
Professor  George  Trumbull  Ladd,  in  writing  of  a 
modern  liberal  education :  "  The  ten  years  from  six 
to  sixteen  are  enough,  and  more  than  enough,  to 
prepare  the  average  mind  for  the  most  exacting  of 
our  American  colleges.  But  alas!  how  much  of 
this  time  is  wasted,  and  worse  than  merely  wasted, 
by  the  poor  teaching  that  jDrevails  in  the  interme- 
diate schools."  ("  The  Higher  Education,"  p.  135.) 
Such  a  reduction  could  be  accomplished  largely 
by  lessening  the  attention  paid  to  certain  studies 
in  the  earlier  grades.  Chief  among  these  is  arith- 
metic. Arithmetic  is  an  abstract  science  to  chil- 
dren. The  operations  of  arithmetic  are  to  the 
child's  mind  arbitrary.  To  his  mind  these  opera- 
tions have  little  of  the  rational.  If  the  study  of 
arithmetic  could  be  deferred  till  the  age  of  ten, 
and  then  only  two  years  devoted  to  it,  all  that  is 
necessary  to  be  learned  or  to  be  done  could  be  ac- 
complished with  ease  and  efficiency.  This  saving 
of  time  not  only  in  arithmetic,  but  also  in  other 
studies,  could  be  effected  by  securing  better- 
trained  teachers.  Teachers  of  good  training  ac- 
complish results  vastly  superior  to  those  accom- 

1 1 


The  Organisation  of  American  Education 

plished  by  the  ill-trained  teacher,  in  a  briefer  time 
and  with  less  taxing  of  the  energies  of  the  child. 

Aside  from  the  question  of  the  reduction  of  the 
age  of  the  pupil,  the  securing  of  better-trained 
teachers  represents  the  most  serious  problem  in 
American  education.  That  the  teacher  is  becom- 
ing better  trained  is  evident.  In  all  the  better  high 
schools  only  those  teachers  who  are  college-bred 
are  employed.  The  college-bred  teachers  also  are 
entering  the  grammar  schools  and  the  primary. 
"We  ought  to  hasten  the  time  when  every  teacher 
should  be  liberally  trained.  No  discipline  is  too 
fine,  no  culture  too  rich,  no  resources  are  too  ample, 
to  be  devoted  to  the  education  of  the  smallest 
child  or  the  smallest  collection  of  children. 

Professor  Ladd,  in  writing  of  the  fitting-schools, 
also  says :  "  One  thing  greatly  to  be  desired 
and  striven  after,  as  affording  needed  relief  to 
the  preparatory  schools,  is  an  improvement  in  the 
primary  education.  No  one  acquainted  with  the 
facts  needs  to  be  told  how  faulty  is  the  knowledge 
of  the  most  elementary  subjects  possessed  by  the 
average  child  of  twelve  or  fourteen,  whether  he 
has  been  trained  in  a  public  or  a  private  school. 
How  blundering  is  his  use,  in  speech,  reading,  or 
writing,  of  his  mother-tongue !  With  how  little 
real  notion  of  what  our  good  planet  is,  in  struc- 
ture and  aspect,  has  he  learned  long  lists  of  un- 
pronounceable names  of  mountains,  rivers,  and 
cities — not  to  say  hamlets  and  villages !  For  how 
many  years  has  he  struggled  with  the  fundamental 
mysteries  of  number,  and  spent  his  time  weari- 

12 


The  Organisation  of  American  Education 

somely  doing  '  sums,'  the  like  of  which  are  not  to 
be  found  in  real  life  upon  this  earth,  and,  as  we 
trust,  not  in  the  heavens  above !  "  ("  The  Higher 
Education,"  p.  61.) 

At  this  point  enters  the  question  of  cost.  Of 
course,  good  teaching  costs,  and  ought  to  cost. 
The  best  teaching  is  yet  the  cheapest;  and  the 
poorest  teaching  is  the  highest.  Humanity  is 
learning  that  it  is  better  economy  to  devote  the 
larger  share  of  its  revenues  to  the  education  of 
children  in  the  beginning  of  their  lives  rather  than 
to  expend  it  for  the  care  of  the  criminal,  the  de- 
fective, and  the  pauper  through  a  score  of  years. 

It  is  to  be  said,  moreover,  that  the  teacher  is  to 
receive  a  professional  training.  The  professional 
education  of  the  teacher  is  as  important  as  the  pro- 
fessional education  of  the  lawyer  or  the  doctor  or 
the  minister.  American  life  is  reaching  this  con- 
clusion. The  opinion  that  all  that  is  necessary  for 
the  teaching  of  any  subject  is  to  know  that  subject 
is  still  held  by  some  great  scholars  and  teachers, 
but  it  is  obsolescent.  As  the  professional  educa- 
tion of  the  lawyer  and  of  the  doctor  is  a  contribu- 
tion of  the  present  century,  so  the  professional 
education  of  the  teacher  is  to  be  one  of  the  worthi- 
est contributions  of  the  new  century  to  human 
affairs.  But  the  professional  education  of  the 
teacher  differs  in  many  respects  from  the  profes- 
sional education  of  the  lawyer  or  the  doctor.  The 
lawyer  or  the  doctor  or  the  minister  becomes, 
through  the  professional  school,  trained  in  the 
knowledge  of  his  subject.    The  lawyer  learns  law, 

'3 


The  Organisation  of  American  Education 

the  doctor  learns  medicine,  and  the  minister  learns 
theology.  The  professional  training  of  the  teacher 
is  not  the  securing  of  the  knowledge  of  his  subject. 
This  knowledge  he  already  is  supposed  to  possess. 
If  he  is  to  be  trained  to  teach  geometry  or  Latin 
or  Greek  or  French  or  philosophy,  he  is  supposed 
to  know  geometry  or  Latin  or  Greek  or  French  or 
philosophy.  His  training  as  a  teacher  is  a  train- 
ing in  the  methods  of  teaching.  In  order  to  train 
him  to  present  geometry  properly  to  a  class,  he  is 
supposed  to  know  geometry  before  he  enters  into 
the  professional  school  to  get  a  training  to  teach 
geometry.  At  this  point,  it  may  be  added,  the 
current  prejudice  against  normal  schools  has  its 
origin,  for  the  normal  school  has  tried  to  teach 
both  the  content  of  knowledge  and  the  method  of 
teaching  that  knowledge.  The  normal  school  has 
tried  to  make  at  once  scholars  and  teachers.  In 
certain  cases  the  normal  school,  receiving  students 
ill  instructed,  has  not  tried  to  teach  the  subject, 
but,  dealing  with  the  student  as  if  he  knew  the 
subject  when  he  did  not,  and  trying  to  train  him 
in  the  method  of  teaching  a  subject  of  which  he 
knew  nothing,  the  normal  school  has  added  to 
ignorance  confusion  and  to  confusion  distress ! 

As  education  improves,  and  as  society  develops, 
we  are  to  see  the  department  of  education  in  the 
college  enlarge.  For  this  department  will  receive 
only  those  who  possess  the  content  of  the  knowledge 
of  the  various  subjects  which  they  are  to  teach  and 
who  come  to  this  department  in  order  to  receive  sim- 
ply a  better  professional  and  technical  equipment. 

14 


The  Organisation  of  American  Education 

Both  in  the  college  and  ont  of  the  college,  it  is 
to  be  remembered  that  far  more  important  than 
technical  training  is  professional  knowledge,  and 
more  important  than  professional  knowledge  is 
general  education,  and  more  important  than  gen- 
eral education  is  personality.  Most  educational 
directors,  in  search  of  a  grammar-school  teacher, 
would  prefer  to  accept  the  college  graduate  without 
the  technical  training  of  the  normal  school  than  to 
take  a  high- school  graduate  who  has  had  the 
normal-school  course.  And  it  is  also  true  that 
most  educational  directors  would  prefer  to  receive 
as  a  teacher  one  who  has  or  is  a  great  character, 
who  has  or  is  a  great  spirit,  untouched  by  the  train- 
ing of  the  college,  than  to  receive  one  whose  powers 
are  commonplace,  even  if  endowed  with  the  advan- 
tages of  a  college  training. 

The  higher  education,  as  well  as  the  lower,  is  to 
be  organized  about  the  unit  of  the  individual  stu- 
dent. To  equip  him  for  life  is  the  supreme  pur- 
pose. In  this  adjustment  of  American  education 
about  the  student  there  are  developing  three  types 
of  the  American  college.  One  of  these  is  the  college 
that  depends  upon  the  church  for  support ;  another 
is  that  which  depends  upon  the  individual  or  the 
general  community  for  support ;  and  the  third  type 
is  that  which  depends  upon  the  State  for  support. 
The  first  type  is  the  ordinary  denominational  col- 
lege. The  second  type  is  the  large  and  common 
college,  such  as  Columbia  or  Harvard.  The  third 
type  is  that  of  the  ordinary  State  university. 
The  second  of  these  types  is  Christian,  but  it  is 

15 


The  Organisation  of  American  Education 

not  denominational.  It  leans  upon  the  commu- 
nity, but  not  upon  the  commonwealth.  These 
three  types  are  not,  however,  as  distinct  as  might 
at  first  thought  appear.  The  denominational  col- 
lege often  holds  intimate  relations  to  individuals 
outside  of  a  particular  church,  and  also,  for  more 
than  two  hundred  years,  the  denominational  college 
has  drawn  aid  from  the  commonwealth.  Colleges, 
too,  which  rest  upon  the  unorganized  community  or 
upon  individuals  have  received  aid  from  the  State. 
Cornell  has  been,  and  is,  the  recipient  of  large 
revenues  from  the  State  of  New  York.  Colleges, 
too,  which  are  an  integral  part  of  the  public  educa- 
tion of  the  State,  have  been  aided  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent  by  individuals.  Michigan  has  received 
funds  from  private  sources,  and  a  few  years  ago 
the  University  of  Minnesota  received  a  gift  which 
was  used  in  the  erection  of  a  building  bearing  the 
name  of  a  benefactor,  Pillsbury  Hall. 

Each  of  these  types  and  methods  has  its  advan- 
tages. The  denominational  college  represents  the 
intimacy  of  the  relation  existing  between  re- 
ligion and  learning,  a  relation  historic  and  vital. 
The  individual  college  stands  for  independence, 
a  most  precious  condition  for  the  promotion 
of  scholarship  and  for  the  development  of  char- 
acter. The  State  college  or  State  university  em- 
bodies the  idea  that  the  whole  body  of  the  people 
is  concerned  in  the  securing  of  a  sufficient  number 
of  well-trained  citizens  to  insure  the  efficiency  and 
perpetuity  of  the  State.  No  one  type  need  fully 
exclude  the  others,  and  the  three  are  found  co- 

16 


The  Organisation  of  American  Education 

existing  in  not  a  few  of  the  commonwealths.  It 
may  be  said  that  these  types  are  only  forms  of 
what  we  call  the  "American  university"  as  the 
American  university  itself  is  one  of  the  several 
types  of  the  university.  For  the  English  univer- 
sity is  unlike  the  Scotch,  the  Scotch  is  unlike  the 
German,  the  German  is  unlike  the  French,  and 
each  of  them  is  unlike  the  American. 


17 


II 

THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE 
AMERICAN  COLLEGE 


II 

THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE 
AMERICAN  COLLEGE 

THE  organization  of  the  American  college  is 
simple.  In  most  States  the  organization  is 
made  under  the  general  law  applying  to  incorpo- 
rated societies.  The  essential  part  of  the  organiza- 
tion is  the  legal  body  which  usually  calls  itself 
Trustees.  The  body  which  is  usually  called  the 
Faculty  has  to  do  with  giving  instruction  and  per- 
forming the  work  for  doing  which  the  college  was 
created.  In  association  with  the  legal  body  is 
sometimes  found  a  second  one,  frequently  known 
as  the  Board  of  Overseers;  but  the  institutions 
having  this  second  body  are  few.  The  Board  of 
Trust  and  the  Faculty  are  the  two  bodies  to  which 
is  generally  committed  the  administration  of  the 
college.  The  Board  of  Trust  is  usually,  though 
not  always,  a  close  corporation.  Its  members 
choose  their  own  successors.  When  it  is  not  a 
close  corporation,  elections  to  it  are  made,  as  a 
rule,  wholly  or  largely  by  the  graduates  of  the  col- 
lege. If  the  college,  however,  is  denominational, 
and  has  intimate  affiliations  with  a  church  of  a 

21 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

rather  strict  form  of  government,  the  church  itself 
not  infrequently  chooses  or  nominates  certain  mem- 
bers for  this  Board.  This  intimacy  of  ecclesiastical 
relationship  is  found  more  frequently  in  the  Episco- 
pal and  Presbyterian  and  Methodist  communions. 
The  members  of  the  Board  of  Trust  are  seldom  less 
than  seven  nor  more  than  twenty-five.  The  duties 
of  this  Board  relate  to  the  care  of  the  property  put 
into  its  keeping,  and  also  to  the  giving  of  legal 
value  to  the  acts  of  the  Faculty.  The  Board  of 
Trust  confers  degrees;  it  fixes  salaries;  it  deter- 
mines the  budget  of  each  year;  it  holds  and  con- 
trols all  investments.  The  nature  of  the  duties 
that  belong  to  this  Board  of  Trust  vary,  of  course, 
somewhat  in  different  colleges.  It  may  be  said 
that  usually  their  authority  is  supreme,  yet  this 
authority  they  seldom  see  fit  to  use  arbitrarily. 
Their  decision  is  ultimate,  yet  usually  they  trust 
the  Faculty.  In  its  last  analysis  the  management 
of  a  college  rests  absolutely  in  the  Board  of  Trust. 
To  this  Board  the  Faculty  and  students  are  re- 
sponsible. 

Though  the  function  of  the  Board  of  Trust  is 
thus  definitive,  yet  it  is  to  the  second  body  that 
the  fulfilment  of  the  great  purposes  for  which 
a  college  exists  is  committed.  To  the  members 
of  the  Faculty  the  work  of  instruction  is,  of  course, 
given.  The  duty  of  discipline  is  theirs.  The 
proper  ordering  of  the  various  relations  of  the 
students  belongs  to  them.  All  that  makes  up 
the  daily  routine  of  the  college  represents  their 
constant  and  immediate  responsibility.    To  their 

22 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

college  work  they  give  themselves.  College  service 
represents  their  profession.  The  Faculty  in  certain 
colleges  includes  all  those  who  give  instruction.  In 
other  colleges  it  includes  only  those  who  are  chosen 
to  permanent  chairs,  excluding  those  whose  ap- 
pointments are  for  a  year  or  for  a  term  of  years. 
The  members  are  chosen  to  this  body  under  a 
great  variety  of  conditions. 

The  methods  of  choosing  represent  so  important 
a  part  of  college  order,  and  are  so  diverse,  that  I 
shall  indicate  what  methods  do  control  in  various 
colleges.  The  statement  descriptive  of  the  method 
is  usually  made  by  the  President  of  the  college. 

In  Yale  University :  "  In  the  matter  of  the  ap- 
pointment of  professors,  our  custom— not  our  writ- 
ten law,  but  our  long-established  custom— is  that 
the  Faculty  of  the  departments  (scientific,  theo- 
logical, or  whatever  department  of  the  university) 
in  which  the  new  professor  is  to  act  nominates 
him  to  the  Corporation,  and  the  Corporation  ap- 
points him  to  the  office.  They  may,  of  course, 
decline  to  appoint  him  if  they  see  fit.  The  matter 
of  nomination  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Faculty,  the 
matter  of  election  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Corpora- 
tion. In  most  of  our  New  England  colleges  the 
whole  power  of  nomination  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
President ;  he  may  not  consult  the  Faculty  at  all. 
It  is  not  so  with  us." 

In  Williams  College :  "  "When  we  are  selecting  a 
new  member  of  our  Faculty,  if  it  is  a  professor  we 
want,  I  consult  with  men  interested  in  the  same 
department,  and  mention  a  name  and  act  with 

23 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

their  approbation.  If  it  is  an  instructor  we  want, 
I  generally  do  the  same." 

In  Dartmouth  College :  "  In  securing  a  new  mem- 
ber of  the  Faculty,  the  President  advises  with  the 
department  concerned,  and  then  puts  the  matter 
before  the  Committee  on  Instruction  in  the  Board 
of  Trustees.  The  Trustees  vote  upon  the  recom- 
mendation of  this  Committee." 

In  Brown  University :  "  The  President  nominates 
the  candidate  or  suggests  several ;  then  the  Advisory 
and  Executive  Committee  discuss  the  merits  of  the 
candidates,  one  or  more,  and  vote  to  recommend  to 
the  Corporation.  This  is  equivalent  to  an  election, 
as  the  Board  never  rejects  a  nomination  thus  made." 

In  Columbia  College :  "  Ordinarily  the  President 
takes  the  initiative  in  securing  a  new  member  of 
any  of  our  faculties.  I  am,"  says  President  Low, 
"  in  the  habit  of  conferring  freely  with  all  those 
more  directly  interested  in  the  appointment  to  be 
made,  so  as  to  be  sure  that  the  person  called  shall 
be  persona  grata.  When  I  am  satisfied  that  I  am 
on  the  track  of  the  right  man,  I  try  to  ascertain 
whether  he  would  accept  such  a  call  as  I  have  in 
mind.  I  always  seek  a  personal  interview,  if  pos- 
sible, as  I  am  reluctant  to  have  any  man  appointed 
to  any  position  in  connection  with  the  university 
whom  I  have  not  looked  in  the  face.  Of  course,  I 
never  seek  a  personal  interview'  until  after  a  very 
careful  inquiry.  When  I  am  satisfied  upon  all  the 
points  involved,  I  submit  a  nomination  to  the 
Trustees,  who  act  upon  it  with  or  without  refer- 
ence to  the  Committee  on  Education  as  the  case 

24 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

may  demand.  I  often  confer  informally  with  the 
members  of  the  Committee  on  Education  of  the 
Trustees,  so  that  when  the  matter  comes  before 
the  Trustees  they  are  able  to  confirm  the  state- 
ments of  the  President,  and  to  express  their  opin- 
ion without  delay.  There  is  no  law  governing 
these  matters,  but  this,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  is  my 
own  method  of  procedure,  which  has  thus  far 
proved  acceptable  both  to  the  Trustees  and  to  the 
members  of  our  faculties." 

In  Johns  Hopkins  University:  "Appointments 
to  the  Faculty  are  made  by  the  Trustees,  who  are 
largely  influenced  by  the  recommendations  of  the 
President,  and  he  is  influenced  in  turn  by  the 
wishes  and  recommendations  of  those  in  the  Fac- 
ulty who  are  most  capable  of  advising  him,  espe- 
cially by  the  members  of  the  Academic  Council." 

In  the  University  of  Pennsylvania :  "  The  selec- 
tion of  new  members  of  any  Faculty  is  entirely  in 
the  hands  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  who  act 
primarily  through  their  Committee  upon  the 
proper  department.  This  Committee  carefully 
inquires  after  available  candidates,  giving  great 
weight,  of  course,  to  any  recommendations  re- 
ceived from  the  Faculty,  and  in  due  time  makes  a 
nomination  to  the  Board,  which  is  almost  always 
followed  by  an  election.  No  professor  can  be 
elected  at  the  meeting  at  which  he  is  nominated. 
Notice  must  be  sent  to  every  trustee,  and  a  ma- 
jority of  the  Board  must  be  present  at  the  elec- 
tion." 

In  Western  Reserve  University  and  Adelbert 

25 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

College  the  Faculty  nominates  and  the  Trustees 
confirm.  The  work  of  investigation  is  done  by  a 
Committee  appointed  by  the  Faculty,  and  upon  its 
recommendation  the  nomination  is  made.  The 
nomination  is  then  submitted  to  a  standing  Com- 
mittee of  the  Trustees ;  this  Committee  usually  in- 
vestigates and  passes  on  the  nomination  to  the 
Board  of  Trust.  The  President  is  in  constant 
consultation  with  each  of  these  committees  and 
they  with  him. 

In  the  University  of  Chicago :  "  When  it  is  de- 
cided to  make  an  appointment,  the  professor  in  the 
department  and  the  President  both  take  the  matter 
in  hand,  the  professor  being  careful  in  every  case 
not  to  commit  the  university  in  any  way.  The 
matter  is  finally  decided  upon  by  the  President 
and  the  head  of  the  department  interested,  and  the 
nomination  is  made  by  the  President  to  the  Board 
of  Trustees.  A  by-law  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 
provides  that  all  nominations  shall  be  made  by  the 
President.  It  is,  of  course,  possible  for  me,"  says 
the  writer,  President  Harper,  "to  make  nomina- 
tions regardless  of  the  wishes  of  the  members  of 
the  department,  but  it  would  hardly  be  thought 
wise  to  do  this  except  in  special  circumstances." 

In  the  University  of  Illinois:  "We  follow  no 
particular  method  in  securing  a  new  member  of 
our  Faculty.  We  keep  a  file  of  all  applications  for 
positions,  and  when  a  vacancy  occurs  we  examine 
the  pile — and  it  is  a  large  one.  Sometimes  we 
write  to  the  older  universities,  and  sometimes  we 
communicate  with  teachers'  agencies.    In  one  way 

26 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

or  another,  we  ordinarily  find  the  right  person  in 
due  time." 

In  the  University  of  Wisconsin:  "Members  of 
the  Faculty  here  are  appointed  by  the  Board  of 
Regents  on  the  recommendation  of  the  President. 
According  to  the  prevailing  public  opinion  in  this 
place,  no  other  method  would  be  encouraged. 
Neither  the  Regents  nor  the  Faculty  desire  that 
anybody  should  be  appointed  excepting  on  the 
nomination  of  the  President;  and  ordinarily  the 
nomination  of  the  President  receives  the  unques- 
tioning ratification  of  the  Board  of  Regents." 

In  the  University  of  Kansas :  "  Whenever  a  va- 
cancy occurs  in  any  department,  the  head  of  that 
department  and  myself  [the  Chancellor]  are  ap- 
pointed to  select  a  person  to  fill  said  vacancy. 
Generally  the  head  of  the  department  seeks  candi- 
dates from  such  schools  as  he  knows  best  fit  men 
for  his  work." 

In  the  University  of  Nebraska:  "A  Committee 
consisting  of  the  Chancellor  and  the  Deans  of  the 
colleges  look  over  the  ground  and  determine  who 
shall  be  recommended  to  the  Board.  The  Board 
of  Regents  acts  after  this  recommendation,  though 
not  necessarily  upon  it.  I  mean,"  says  the  Chan- 
cellor, "  by  this  that  they  do  not  take  original  juris- 
diction in  the  case,  and  are  not  necessarily  bound 
to  follow  the  suggestion  of  the  Committee  if  they 
know  good  cause  to  the  contrary.  Of  course,  prac- 
tically the  Board  formally  elects  whoever  is  se- 
lected by  the  Committee." 

In  the  University  of  Minnesota:  "Candidates 
27 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

for  professorships  and  assistant  professorships  are 
considered  by  the  permanent  officers, — that  is, 
professors  as  distinguished  from  instructors, — 
and,  if  approved,  the  President  nominates  them  to 
the  Board  of  Eegents,  and  the  Board  elects.  Of 
course  the  Board  of  Eegents  can  elect  without  con- 
sulting the  Faculty." 

In  the  University  of  California :  "  We  find  a  pro- 
fessor by  seeking  advice  from  men  best  qualified 
to  judge  in  the  particular  lines  of  work.  Some- 
times a  head  of  an  institution,  like  President  Gil- 
man,  is  asked  for  a  nomination  from  his  graduates, 
and  he  turns  over  the  question  to  the  department 
expert." 

These  examples  indicate  that  there  are  two  pre- 
vailing methods,  which,  however,  in  case  all  condi- 
tions are  favorable,  do  not  seriously  differ  in  the 
results  brought  forth.  There  is  the  democratic 
method,  in  which  the  Faculty  takes  the  initiative 
and  does  the  larger  part  of  the  work  in  finding 
a  new  member  for  itself.  There  is  also  what 
may  be  called  the  monarchical  method,  in  which 
the  President  takes  the  initiative,  in  which  he 
may,  with  or  without  conferring  with  his  asso- 
ciates of  the  Faculty,  cause  an  election  to  be  made 
by  the  Board  of  Trust.  But  both  of  these  methods 
usually  bring  forth  the  same  result  in  case  there  is 
harmony  of  relationship  between  the  various  ex- 
ecutive departments.  A  college  Faculty  would  sel- 
dom be  willing  to  call  a  new  member  into  itself 
without  the  express  approval  of  the  President. 
It  is  also  true  that  no  worthy  President  should  be 

28 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

willing  to  bear  a  nomination  to  the  Board  of  Trust 
without  the  approval  of  the  Faculty. 

Between  these  two  methods  it  cannot,  to  my 
mind,  be  for  one  moment  doubted  but  that  the 
democratic  is  superior.  A  Faculty  should  have  the 
right  of  determining  who  are  to  be  members  of 
that  Faculty.  If  self-government  is  at  all  to  be  pur- 
sued, no  better  illustration  of  the  principle  can  be 
found  than  in  the  organization  of  a  college  Faculty. 
This  method  also  tends  to  illustrate  the  principle 
that  in  a  multitude  of  counselors  there  may  be 
not  only  safety  but  also  great  efficiency.  This 
method  also  tends  to  promote  a  sense  of  individual 
responsibility  which  it  is  well  for  each  member 
who  works  in  a  college  to  possess.  It  awakens 
enthusiasm  and  maintains  enthusiasm.  I  am  in- 
clined to  assent  to  the  opinion  of  ex-President 
Dwight  of  Yale  College,  expressed  in  a  letter  to 
me,  that  college  presidents  usually  have  too  much 
power.  It  is  difficult  to  approve  of  the  wisdom 
of  a  man,  a  college  President,  who,  as  soon  as  he 
was  installed,  had  only  one  request  to  make  of 
the  Trustees,  and  that  was  that  he  alone  should 
have  the  right  of  nomination  to  the  Board.  It  is 
only  either  a  high  degree  of  self-confidence  which 
could  lead  a  man  to  ask  that  this  right  be  reserved 
to  himself,  or  an  exceeding  low  degree  of  confidence 
in  a  Faculty. 

In  the  administration  of  the  American  college 
the  Board  of  Trust  and  the  Faculty  may  in  cer- 
tain ways  be  considered  two  coordinate  bodies, 
for  they  work  with  each  other  in  the  bringing 

29 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

forth  of  certain  collegiate  results.  In  another 
sense  the  Trustees  are  superior  to  the  Faculty,  for 
they  have  absolute  power  to  create  or  remove,  to 
approve,  to  confirm,  or  to  qualify.  In  another 
sense  the  Faculty  is  superior  to  the  Board  of  Trust, 
for  the  Faculty  represents  the  working  force  of  the 
college,  which  immediately  and  constantly  performs 
the  duties  to  promote  which  the  college  exists.  It 
is  of  extreme  importance  that  these  two  bodies, 
whether  they  be  regarded  as  coordinate  or  as  in- 
ferior and  superior  on  either  side,  should  be  thor- 
oughly harmonious.  Any  invasion,  on  the  part  of 
the  one,  upon  the  territory  that  belongs  to  the  other 
results  in  inefficiency  in  the  college  itself.  If,  for 
instance,  the  Board  of  Trust  invades  the  territory 
of  the  Faculty,  even  to  lay  down  the  rules  of  the 
daily  life  and  conduct  of  students,  or  respecting  the 
method  and  content  of  instruction,  they  usually 
find  that  they  are  dealing  with  conditions  and 
methods  which  require  the  mind  and  hand  of  edu- 
cational experts;  and,  as  a  rule,  Trustees  are  not 
experts  in  matters  of  education.  The  tendency  of 
the  legal  body  to  interfere  with  the  teaching  body 
is  forcibly  indicated  by  the  late  President  Porter 
in  writing  of  the  ideal  of  the  American  university. 
He  is  discussing  certain  disadvantages  of  a  State 
university,  and  among  them  he  notes  the  tendency 
for  the  Regents  to  interfere  with  the  relations  which 
belong  to  the  Faculty.  But  what  he  says  does  in 
certain  ways  have  a  broad  reference : 

However  carefully  the  boards  of  management  are  re- 
moved from  direct  interference  on  the  part  of  political  or 

30 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

popular  leaders,  the  Regents  of  a  State  university  can 
never  be  wholly  removed  from  public  and  private  de- 
mands and  remonstrances  on  the  part  of  men  who  have 
the  ear  of  the  people  for  the  hour.  Places  will  be  sought 
for  by  unworthy  aspirants  and  their  friends ;  the  teach- 
ings of  the  university  will  be  called  in  question  on  every 
point  where  they  bear  upon  current  questions  of  science, 
or  religion,  or  finance,  or  health,  or  education.  Whatever 
theory  of  culture  the  university  may  adopt  will  now  and 
then  be  assailed  by  an  organization  of  honest  or  dishonest 
demagogues,  either  educational  or  political. 

A  great  university  must  be  the  growth  of  time,  dur- 
ing which  a  commonwealth  of  seekers  after  knowledge 
shall  have  been  trained  by  one  another,  and  shall  have 
learned  to  accept  common  principles,  to  adopt  common 
aims,  and  to  share  in  a  culture  that  has  been  warmed  and 
made  effective  by  active  personal  sympathy.  To  success 
in  such  a  growth,  independence  is  the  prime  and  indis- 
pensable condition.  The  principles  may  be  defective,  the 
training  may  be  defective,  isolation  and  seclusion  may 
confirm  prejudices,  but  with  independence  there  can  be 
strength  and  continuity,  while  without  it  there  can  be 
neither.  A  State  university  with  no  chartered  privileges 
can  never  in  the  best  sense  be  a  society  that  perpetuates 
itself,  but  must  have  a  precarious  and  therefore  an  uncer- 
tain life.  To  expect  for  a  State  or  a  National  University 
stability  or  independence  in  such  a  country  as  ours  is  to 
hope  against  reason  and  experience.1 

The  same  result  in  kind  and  the  same  method 
also  are  seen  in  other  forms  of  the  public  system 
of  education.  The  evil  to  which  President  Porter 
alludes  is  far  more  common  in  the  grammar  and 

1  Porter,  "American  Colleges  and  the  American  Public,"  pp.  389, 
390. 

31 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

high  schools  than  in  the  case  of  the  State  uni- 
versity. School  boards  are  inclined  to  invade  the 
province  of  school  superintendents. 

But  it  is  to  be  said,  and  with  joy,  that  the  ten- 
dency of  the  administrators  in  public  education  or 
in  college  education  to  encroach  upon  the  territory 
of  the  teachers  and  of  a  Faculty  is  rapidly  dimin- 
ishing. That  administrator  is  the  wisest  who  does 
his  own  business  and  makes  no  attempt  to  do  the 
business  which  belongs  to  a  teacher.  Experience, 
too,  is  proving  that  we  can  in  this  country  expect 
both  stability  and  independence  in  a  State  uni- 
versity. The  words  written  by  the  late  President 
of  Yale  are  not  so  true  now  as  they  were  at  the 
time  of  their  writing,  a  score  of  years  ago. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  college  Faculty  may  arrogate 
to  itself  duties  which  belong  to  the  legal  Board.  It 
may  lay  out  plans  of  work  or  enter  upon  their  execu- 
tion, which  call  for  expenditures  of  money  without 
consultation  with  the  Board  of  Trust,  which  is  con- 
cerned with  financial  relations.  But,  on  the  whole, 
a  Faculty  is  far  less  inclined  to  invade  the  territory 
of  the  Trustees  than  Trustees  are  to  invade  the 
territory  of  the  Faculty.  It  is  to  be  said  that 
Trustees  are  not  usually  so  jealous  of  their  rights 
as  to  be  inclined  to  limit  the  aggressive  tendencies 
of  their  professors,  if  only  they  have  money  enough 
to  meet  all  charges  which  are  the  result  of  these 
tendencies.  In  not  a  few  cases  the  Trustees  are 
inclined  to  commit  what  would  seem  to  be  a  part 
of  their  own  work  in  a  large  degree  to  the  Faculty. 
Certain  boards  are  accustomed  to  ask  the  Faculty 

32 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

to  determine  the  salaries  of  its  own  members.  A 
gross  sum,  for  instance,  is  put  into  the  hand  of  the 
Faculty  to  use  as  its  members  see  fit.  This  method 
is  somewhat  akin  to  the  method  formerly  pursued 
in  many  medical  colleges,  in  which  the  Faculty 
retained  all  fees  paid  by  the  students,  and  used 
the  amount  according  to  the  dictates  of  their 
own  wisdom.  The  endowment  of  medical  col- 
leges is  less  than  the  endowment  of  any  other 
order  of  professional  schools,  and  therefore  the 
Trustees,  having  no  income  from  the  investments 
to  pay  over  to  the  members  of  the  Faculty,  and 
knowing  that  whatever  income  the  members  of 
the  Faculty  receive  from  instruction  belongs,  in 
a  peculiar  sense,  to  those  who  earn  it,  are  more 
inclined  to  disclaim  the  assuming  of  financial  rela- 
tionships. But  when  endowments  become  large, 
and  the  income  received  from  these  endowments 
represents  the  larger  share  of  the  sum  to  be  paid 
to  the  professors,  Trustees  are  inclined  to  main- 
tain their  financial  relationships,  as,  of  course, 
they  ought.  The  committing  of  the  financial  re- 
sponsibility to  a  Faculty  has  advantages  in  case 
of  poverty,  or  in  case  of  a  lessening  income. 
Professors  are  more  willing  to  accept  of  small  or 
of  smaller  salaries  on  their  own  nomination  than 
as  a  result  of  the  imposition  of  an  outside  author- 
ity. But  the  point  can  hardly  be  too  strongly 
made  that  college  faculties  are  not  usually  best 
fitted  to  administer  funds. 

Without  doubt  that  method  of  college  government 
is  the  best  in  which  each  of  these  two  bodies,  the 

33 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

corporate  and  the  teaching,  keeps  itself  to  its  own 
field,  but  with  full  respect  for  the  field  of  the  other. 
Or,  perhaps,  to  change  the  figure,  that  method  is  the 
best  in  which  these  two  bodies  constantly  and  heart- 
ily and  efficiently  cooperate.  This  result  is  secured 
far  less  through  any  formal  statute  than  by  put- 
ting first-rate  men  %into  the  Board  of  Trust  and 
into  the  Faculty.  It  is  to  be  noticed  that,  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  American  colleges,  upon  both  of  these 
bodies  clergymen  have  had  a  very  large  place. 
The  representation  of  clergymen  is  becoming 
smaller  with  each  passing  year.  In  the  early  time 
the  government  of  Harvard  College  was  committed 
to  them;  at  the  present  time  they  have  no  pro- 
fessional rights.  President  Porter  has  argued  that 
the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  the  management 
of  our  colleges  must  still  continue  to  be  committed 
to  clergymen.  It  is  worth  while  to  quote  at  length 
what  he  has  to  say : 

In  the  first  place,  most  of  the  colleges  have  originated 
in  the  most  thankless  and  self-sacrificing  services.  To 
services  of  this  kind  clergymen  are  consecrated  by  the 
vows  and  the  spirit  of  their  profession.  The  labor,  self- 
denial,  and  disinterested  toil  which  have  been  required  to 
lay  the  foundations  and  rear  the  superstructure  of  the 
most  successful  colleges  of  this  country  cannot  be  too 
easily  estimated.  To  a  very  large  extent  these  have  been 
endured  and  rendered  by  clergymen.  The  care,  inquiry, 
invention,  and  correspondence,  the  personal  toil  and 
sacrifice,  which  devolve  upon  those  who  act  as  Trustees 
of  an  infant  and  often  of  a  well-established  college,  are 
such  that  few  persons  except  clergymen  are  willing  to 

34 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

undertake  them.  Clergymen  may  not  always  be  good 
men  of  business,  but  they  generally  know  who  are  such, 
and  have  generally  the  good  sense  and  feeling  to  ask  the 
advice  and  to  defer  to  the  decisions  of  those  who  are, 
which  is  more  than  can  always  be  said  of  laymen  who  are 
called  to  duties  and  trusts  to  which  they  are  not  compe- 
tent. Hence,  with  the  best  intentions  and  with  far  greater 
experience  in  affairs  generally,  laymen  may  fail  where 
clergymen  succeed.  As  to  defect  of  tact  or  power  of 
adaptation,  especially  in  the  management  of  men,  an 
excess  of  tact  has  not  unf  requently  been  charged  upon  the 
clergy.  Clerical  art  and  finesse  have  in  not  a  few  cases 
become  proverbial  as  grounds  of  reproach. 

Clergymen  are  far  more  commonly  interested  in  matters 
of  education  than  laymen,  by  reason  of  a  certain  breadth 
of  culture  and  generosity  of  disposition  which  are  the 
results  of  Christian  science.  Though  the  idola  tribus  may 
exact  from  them  a  devotion  which  is  sometimes  narrow 
and  exclusive,  yet  their  profession  is,  from  its  very  nature, 
as  we  have  shown,  the  most  liberalizing  of  all,  from  the 
common  relation  it  involves  to  other  branches  of  know- 
ledge and  from  the  habit  of  seeking  for  the  foundations  of 
truth  which  the  study  of  God  and  religion  induces.  It  is 
but  the  simple  truth  to  say  that  there  is  many  a  country 
clergyman,  whose  income  is  counted  by  hundreds  where 
that  of  his  classmate  lawyer  and  judge  is  counted  by 
thousands,  who  knows  incalculably  more  of  science  as 
such,  and  of  the  way  to  learn  and  to  teach  it,  than  the 
aforesaid  judge  or  lawyer  whose  reputation  is  the  very 
highest  in  his  profession.  The  professional  studies  of 
the  clergyman  do  also  very  emphatically  involve  and 
cultivate  a  sympathy  with  literature  of  all  kinds.  The 
practice  of  composition  and  of  public  speaking  upon 
elevated  themes,  involves  more  or  less  interest  in  the 
study  of  language  and  in  works  of  imaginative  literature. 

35 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

The  clergy  as  such  have,  at  least  in  this  country,  a  more 
pronounced  and  catholic  literary  taste  than  the  members 
of  any  other  profession.  They  constitute,  indeed,  to  a  very 
large  extent,  the  literary  class— the  class  that  furnishes 
most  frequently  public  addresses,  essays,  reviews,  and 
pamphlets.  Educated  lawyers,  physicians,  and  merchants 
write  very  little  in  comparison  with  them,  and  are  much 
less  frequently  readers  beyond  the  range  of  their  own 
profession. 

The  reason  why  clergymen  are  so  generally  selected  as 
professors  and  teachers  in  colleges,  is  twofold :  first,  that 
the  men  best  qualified  by  special  culture  are  oftener 
found  in  the  clerical  profession;  and,  second,  that  the 
profession  of  teaching  is  akin  to  that  of  the  clergyman  in 
the  smallness  of  its  pay  and  the  unselfish  patieDce  which 
it  involves.  At  the  same  time  it  is  not  usually  true,  so 
far  as  we  have  observed,  that  there  is  not  a  sufficiently 
large  number  of  laymen  in  the  faculties  and  boards  of 
trust  to  correct  the  one-sidedness  and  to  supplement  the 
defects  of  their  clerical  colleagues.  We  have  never  ob 
served  that  there  was  in  such  boards  any  jealousy  of  lay 
cooperation,  any  disposition  to  foster  a  clerical  spirit  or 
any  one-sided  results  from  clerical  supervision.  The 
cloistered,  scholastic,  and  pedantic  influences  of  the  col- 
lege which  are  sometimes  complained  of,  so  far  as  there 
are  any,  usually  proceed  from  lay  professors  who  have 
never  known  anything  but  a  scholar's  life.  The  doctor es 
umbratiles  of  the  American  colleges  are  not  infrequently 
laymen.1 

But  it  must  be  said  that  the  history  of  American 
colleges  since  these  paragraphs  were  written,  more 
than  a  score  of  years  ago,  has  weakened  the  force 

1  Porter,   "American   Colleges    and    the  American  Public,"  pp. 
240-242. 

36 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

of  their  reasoning.  The  place  occupied  by  the 
clergyman  as  an  officer  in  American  education  has 
steadily  narrowed.  The  lawyer  and  the  business 
man  are  coming  to  have  as  important  a  place  on 
the  Board  of  Trust  as  clergymen.  The  questions 
which  a  lawyer  is  especially  fitted  to  consider,  pre- 
sented to  a  Board  of  Trust,  rapidly  increase.  The 
questions,  too,  of  general  relationship  which  a 
merchant  is  fitted  to  consider  also  rapidly  increase. 
The  questions  which  may  with  special  propriety 
come  within  the  domain  of  a  clergyman's  consider- 
ation and  position  do  not  at  all  increase.  It  is  also 
to  be  said  that  the  custom  of  calling  ministers  into 
a  Faculty  on  the  ground  that  they  are  ministers  is 
very  rapidly  passing  away.  It  can  hardly  pass 
away  too  rapidly.  Men  of  as  pure  character,  and 
as  influential  in  forming  pure  character  in  young 
men,  can  be  found  outside  of  the  clerical  calling. 
Men,  also,  of  wide  learning,  of  expert  scholarship, 
are  to  be  found  without  as  well  as  within  this  voca- 
tion. The  college  demands  men  who  have  had 
special  training  for  teaching  the  subjects  in  which 
they  offer  instruction.  The  day  of  the  clergyman, 
active  as  a  clergyman,  in  the  management  of  the 
American  college  is  passing  away.  All  that  the 
clergyman  represents  as  a  Christian,  as  a  moralist, 
as  a  scholar,  as  a  philanthropist,  of  course,  has  not 
passed  and  cannot  pass  away. 

Perhaps  one -of  the  most  important  influences 
which  a  Board  of  Trust  can  render  to  a  college  or 
to  a  Faculty  is  represented  in  what  may  be  called 
its  steadying  power.     Crises  in  college  life  some- 

31 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

times  occur.  Rebellions  of  the  students  are  not  un- 
known, though  happily  they  are  far  less  known  now 
than  they  were  in  the  times  of  their  fathers.  Strained 
relations  between  students  and  teachers  also  occa- 
sionally exist.  Divisions  between  different  mem- 
bers or  different  sets  of  members  of  a  Faculty 
sometimes  occur.  Such  unhappy  conditions  the 
Board  of  Trust,  being  remote  from  the  immediate 
turmoil,  is  better  fitted  to  consider,  and  to  give  a 
judgment  based  upon  facts  without  prejudice. 
Trustees  are  best  fitted  to  serve  as  both  judge  and 
jury.  They  steady  the  trembling  collegiate  struc- 
ture. It  has  sometimes  been  proposed  to  make  the 
Faculty  the  legal  and  governing  body  of  a  college. 
This  method  still  maintains  in  English  univer- 
sities. The  method  has  been  attempted  on  these 
shores.  About  the  year  1721  an  endeavor  was 
made  to  turn  out  the  non-resident  fellows  of 
Harvard  College,  and  to  fill  their  places  by  the 
professors.  A  long  and  serious  quarrel  resulted. 
About  one  hundred  years  afterward  a  similar 
attempt  was  made,  and  among  those  who  were 
in  favor  of  the  chaDge  were  Edward  Everett, 
Andrews  Norton,  and  Henry  Ware.  But  this  at- 
tempt also  did  not  carry.  It  seems  pretty  clear  that 
this  method  of  government  of  a  college  by  its  pro- 
fessors would  tend  to  create  dissension  and  division. 
Under  an  ideal  condition  of  human  nature,  and 
under  an  ideal  system  in  the  relations  of  men,  this 
method  would  be  the  best.  But  too  great  intimacy 
of  relations  may  promote  disorder  and  bickering. 
The  usual  method  of  constitutional  government  of 

38 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

two  bodies  seems  the  best  method  of  college  gov- 
ernment. 

In  every  college  is  found  what  is  known  as  an 
association  of  the  alumni.  This  association  is  fre- 
quently, though  not  always,  an  incorporate  body. 
It  is  a  society  of  the  graduates,  formed  for  keep- 
ing its  members  in  close  touch  with  the  college 
after  they  have  left  its  walls,  and  also  for  giving 
such  aid  to  the  college  as  it  may  be  able.  This 
association  may  prove,  and  usually  does  prove,  of 
the  utmost  worth  to  a  college.  No  society  of  men 
can  have  a  greater  interest  in  a  college  than  its 
own  sons.  It  is  to  them  an  alma  mater.  The  name 
suggests  rather  the  devotion  of  sons  than  the  in- 
difference of  the  supporters  of  the  institution  in 
which  they  may  have  passed,  willingly  or  unwill- 
ingly, several  years.  In  certain  colleges  this  asso- 
ciation has  a  representation  on  the  Board  of 
Trust.  Ex-President  D  wight  of  Yale  University 
says :  "  We  have  one  Board,  consisting  of  eighteen 
members— the  President,  ten  clerical  members,  six 
alumni  members,  and  the  Governor  of  the  State  ex 
officio.  The  clerical  members  hold  office  'during 
good  behavior'— that  is,  for  life.  They  elect  their 
own  successors.  They,  with  the  President,  are  the 
successors  of  the  Board  constituted  by  the  old 
charter  of  the  institution.  The  alumni  members 
are  graduates  elected  by  the  graduates  for  six  years 
— one  going  out  of  office  every  year,  but  eligible  to 
reelection."  President  Carter  of  Williams  College 
writes:  "We  have  five  Trustees  elected  by  our 
alumni,    one    of    whom    is    elected   every   year." 

39 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

President  Tucker  of  Dartmouth  College  says: 
"  Our  Board  of  Trustees  is  made  up  of  twelve 
members — the  Governor  of  the  State,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  college,  who,  however,  must  be  elected 
to  the  Board,  and  ten  other  members,  five  of  whom 
are  nominated  by  the  alumni.  Nomination  of 
these  members  is  made  for  five  years,  one  member 
retiring  at  the  end  of  that  term  of  service  and 
another  nominated  in  his  place.  The  permanent 
members  of  the  Board,  in  case  of  a  vacancy,  are 
selected  by  conference." 

What  I  have  had  to  say  in  reference  to  the  elec- 
tions of  the  Board  of  Trust  refers  to  colleges  of  the 
more  ordinary  type.  It  has  not  had  special  refer- 
ence to  State  universities.  The  methods  of  election 
of  the  boards  of  trust  of  the  State  universities 
varies  in  different  States.  The  following  represent 
some  of  the  more  important : 

University  of  Pennsylvania:  "Nominations  are 
made  by  any  trustee,  and  these  are  considered 
confidentially  by  the  Board,  freely  discussed  by  the 
members,  and  only  the  result  finally  announced. 
As  the  position  is  one  for  life,  and  the  association 
of  the  Trustees  a  very  close  and  friendly  one, 
the  greatest  care  and  discrimination  are  used  in 
selecting  a  proper  person." 

University  of  Illinois:  "The  members  of  our 
Board  of  Trustees  are  elected  upon  a  State  ticket, 
three  being  elected  each  second  year." 

University  of  Wisconsin :  "  Our  Board  of  Regents 
is  appointed  by  the  Governor,  each  regent  for 
three  years.     There  are  as  many  Regents  as  con- 

40 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

gressional  districts— one  from  each,  and  two  at 
large.  The  Board,  therefore,  changes  gradually, 
and  is  made  up  ordinarily  of  the  best  men  the 
Governor  can  find." 

University  of  Nebraska :  "  Our  Regents  are 
elected  by  the  people  at  general  elections." 

University  of  Minnesota:  "Members  of  the 
Board  of  Regents  are  appointed  by  the  Governor 
of  the  State,  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate.  As  a 
matter  of  courtesy  and  wisdom,  the  Governor 
usually  consults  with  the  Regents  as  to  who 
would  be  desirable." 

University  of  California:  "Our  Regents  are 
nominated  by  the  Governor  of  the  State,  and  con- 
firmed by  the  State  Senate.  They  hold  office  for 
sixteen  years,  and  two  go  out  every  year.  "We 
have  also  seven  ex  officio  Regents — Governor,  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, Speaker  of  Assembly,  President 
of  the  Agricultural  Society,  President  of  the  Me- 
chanical Institute,  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction, President  of  the  university.  It  is  too 
large  a  Board." 

In  other  colleges,  in  which  there  is  what  may  be 
called  the  second  body,  usually  known  as  Over- 
seers, its  members  are  elected  from  those  who  are 
members  of  the  alumni  association.  Such  is  the 
case  at  Harvard.  The  American  college  cannot  do 
too  much  to  foster  an  intimacy  of  relationship  be- 
tween herself  and  her  graduates.  She  loves  them  as 
her  sons,  she  glories  in  them  as  those  to  whom  she 
has  given  her  life.  No  association  between  an  in- 
stitution and  those  who  have  received  its  benefits 

4i 


The  Constitution  oj  the  American  College 

is  so  intimate,  or  should  be  so  intimate,  is  so  lov- 
ing and  so  loyal,  as  that  which  is  found  uniting  a 
college  and  its  graduates.  The  fondness  of  a  col- 
lege man  for  his  college  and  the  fondness  of  a  college 
for  its  graduates,  based  upon  a  relation  covering 
only  four  years,  is  absolutely  unique  among  human 
relationships. 

It  is  not  to  be  questioned  that  the  ordinary 
method  of  the  organization  of  American  colleges 
is  the  wisest.  The  Board  of  Trustees  and  the 
Faculty  are  sufficient.  A  Board  of  Overseers  in 
addition  to  a  Board  of  Trust  is  usually  superfluous. 
In  case  a  Board  of  Overseers  exists,  the  Board  of 
Trust  is  generally  small.  It  is  necessary  to  have  a 
small  body  of  some  sort  in  the  government  of  a 
college  which  can  be  called  together  easily  and 
often.  But  such  a  convocation  can  be  had  by  ap- 
pointing a  committee  from  members  of  the  Board 
for  administrative  or  executive  purposes.  To  this 
body  may  be  delegated  sufficient  power  for  doing 
the  necessary  business  which  should  be  done  be- 
tween the  quarter-  or  semi-annual  or  annual  meet- 
ings of  the  full  Board.  It  is  also  plain  that  in  this 
Board  of  Trust  is  afforded  an  opportunity  for  the 
representation  of  the  alumni  of  the  college.  It  is 
useless  to  multiply  boards  in  the  organization  of  a 
college  beyond  those  which  are  absolutely  neces- 
sary for  doing  the  business  of  the  college.  It  is 
absolutely  useless  to  have  more  machinery  than 
one  needs  for  getting  the  product  which  he  wishes 
to  get. 

There  is  also  an  objection  to  multiplying  boards 

42 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

lying  in  the  fact  that  the  college  as  an  organ  of 
scholarship  and  training  is  inclined  to  conserva- 
tism. The  college  should  be  conservative,  but  a 
college  may  easily  become  too  conservative.  Most 
colleges  are  altogether  too  conservative.  Let  there 
be  safety;  let  there  not  be  stagnation.  It  is 
much  more  difficult  to  overcome  this  tendency 
toward  conservatism  with  three  boards  than  with 
two.  Two  boards,  also,  are  usually  sufficient  for 
the  limiting  of  measures  and  of  means  which  are 
too  aggressive. 

Undoubtedly  the  government  of  the  two  great 
universities  of  England  has  tended  strongly  to- 
ward conservatism.  It  has  been  found  very  diffi- 
cult to  make  reforms  in  these  two  universities.  The 
universities  have,  on  the  whole,  been  most  remote 
of  great  English  institutions  from  the  influence 
of  progressive  public  sentiment.  One  cause  of 
this,  in  my  opinion,  is  that  the  government  of, 
for  instance,  Oxford  University,  is  so  complex  and 
elaborate.  Convocation,  Congregation,  and  Heb- 
domadal Council  represent  societies  each  of  which 
is  in  its  constitution  conservative,  and  all  of  which, 
united  in  an  administrative  agent,  represent  con- 
servatism of  the  extreme  type.  For  instance,  the 
Hebdomadal  Council  alone  has  power  to  initiate 
legislation.  If  this  Council  proposes  a  new  statute, 
it  has  to  be  promulgated  in  the  Congregation,  which 
may  either  reject  or  adopt  or  amend  it.  If  the 
Congregation  approve  of  a  statute,  it  is  in  turn 
submitted  to  Convocation,  which  may  either  adopt 
or  reject,  but  cannot  amend.     Progress  under  such 

A3 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

legislative  conditions  is  exceedingly  slow  and  diffi- 
cult. When  this  government  of  the  University  of 
Oxford  becomes  related  to  the  government  of  the 
colleges  which  make  up  the  university,  it  is  at  once 
seen  that  any  improvement  in  educational  methods 
or  advance  in  educational  measures  has  to  make 
its  way  in  the  face  of  many  difficulties  and  objec- 
tions. "For,"  as  says  "a  Mere  Don,"  "plant  a 
custom  and  it  will  flourish,  defying  statutes  and 
Royal  Commissions.  Conservatism  is  in  the  air ; 
even  convinced  Radicals  (in  politics)  cannot  escape 
from  it,  and  are  sometimes  Tories  in  matters  re- 
lating to  their  university.  They  will  change  the 
constitution  of  the  realm,  but  will  not  stand  any 
tampering  with  the  Hebdomadal  Council.  What- 
ever be  the  reason — whether  it  be  environment 
or  heredity — universities  go  on  doing  the  same 
things,  only  in  different  ways ;  they  retain  that 
indefinable  habit  of  thought  which  seems  to  cling 
to  old  gray  walls  and  the  shade  of  ancient  elms." 1 
The  organization  of  the  American  college  is  not 
typed  so  closely  upon  the  organization  of  the  Eng- 
lish as  the  close  historical  association  of  the  two 
countries  would  warrant  one  in  presuming.  The 
two  common  English  types — the  college,  which  is 
a  private  corporation  consisting  of  a  head  with 
Fellows  and  scholars,  and  which  is  governed  by  the 
head  and  the  Fellows,  and  the  second  type,  the 
university,  which  is  supposed  to  be  composed  of 
its  graduates  and  students,  and  which  is  governed 

1  "Aspects  of  Modern  Oxford,"  by    a  Mere  Don,    pp.  122,    123. 
London,  Seeley  &  Co.,  1894. 

44 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

by  its  graduates — do  not  exactly  reappear  in 
America.  Neither,  on  the  other  hand,  does  the 
German  university  method  prevail.  The  German 
university  is  not  only  founded,  but  it  is  main- 
tained, by  the  state.  The  state  confers  degrees 
and  establishes  statutes.  It  founds  all  fellow- 
ships, and  the  holders  of  fellowships  are  officials 
of  the  state.  The  universities  are  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  minister  of  education,  and  are  not  subject 
to  provincial  authority.  Yet,  while  the  university 
is  thus  incorporated  into  the  state,  it  enjoys  a 
degree  of  independence  possessed  by  no  other  state 
institution.  The  faculties,  too,  have  in  a  large  de- 
gree the  right  of  self-government,  and  they  have 
the  supervision  of  a  student  in  respect  to  his  con- 
duct and  studies.  They  even  go  so  far  as  to  pro- 
pose to  the  minister  of  education  candidates  to  fill 
vacancies  and  professorships.  Above  all  else,  they 
exercise  their  right  to  freedom  in  teaching.  Al- 
though recently  attempts  have  been  made  to  limit 
this  freedom,  yet  it  is  to  be  said  in  general  that 
never  has  the  German  university  been  more  free 
than  in  the  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  to  offer 
what  instruction  and  under  what  conditions  it  saw 
fit.  In  the  early  part  of  the  century  there  was 
governmental  interference  in  behalf  of  the  Hegelian 
philosophy.  In  1840  there  was  interference  against 
the  same  philosophy.  Within  the  last  two  years 
limitations  respecting  the  teaching  of  certain 
economic  or  social  theories  have  been  made.  But 
in  general  absolute  freedom  prevails.  This  free- 
dom is  akin  to  the  freedom  which  a  Board  of  Trust 

45 


The  Constitution  of  the  American  College 

is  accustomed  to  grant  to  the  Faculty  of  an  Ameri- 
can college  in  respect  to  all  of  its  arrangements 
regarding  instruction. 

The  influence  of  the  higher  schools  of  France  has 
never  been  so  strong  upon  the  American  education 
as  the  influence  of  the  uuiversities  of  England  or 
of  Germany.  In  the  time  of  the  greatest  intimacy 
between  France  and  this  country  the  American 
nation  was  not  founding  colleges,  and  the  uniting 
of  all  universities  into  the  University  of  France 
has  not  seemed  to  embody  an  educational  method 
worthy  of  adoption.  The  French  method  repre- 
sents the  extreme  point  of  centralization,  and  the 
American  represents,  possibly,  the  extreme  of 
diffusion.  The  present  method  in  France  and  the 
present  method  in  America  have  few  points  of 
relationship.  In  the  American  college  the  Faculty 
and  the  Board  of  Trust  find  a  common  meeting- 
point  in  the  person  and  work  of  that  officer  who 
is  called  President. 


46 


Ill 

THE  COLLEGE  PRESIDENT 


Ill 

THE  COLLEGE   PRESIDENT 

THE  American  college  has  developed  three 
types  of  the  college  President.  The  earliest 
was  the  clerical,  the  second  the  scholastic,  and 
the  third  was,  and  is,  the  executive  type.  The 
first  type  began  with  Dunster,  the  first  President 
of  Harvard,  and  continued  at  Harvard  down  to 
Quincy,  the  first  President  within  a  hundred 
years,  and  the  first  but  one  of  the  entire  period 
of  the  college,  down  to  his  own  time,  who  was  not 
a  clergyman.  This  type  also  still  prevails  in  many, 
possibly  most,  of  our  colleges.  The  type  grew  out 
of  the  fact  that  the  American  college  was,  and  in  a 
large  degree  still  is,  a  product  or  a  function  of  the 
church.  A  fitness  existed,  therefore,  of  making  the 
chief  officer  of  the  ecclesiastical  society  also 
the  chief  officer  of  the  educational  society.  It 
was,  and  still  is,  held  that  the  supreme  and  com- 
prehensive purpose  of  the  college  is  to  form  a  fine 
and  strong  character  in  its  students.  This  aim  is 
identical  with  the  general  aim  of  the  church.  No 
unfitness,  therefore,  was  apparent  in  looking  to  the 
pastorate  for  proper   candidates  for  the   college 

4  49 


The  College  President 

presidency.  In  certain  colleges  and  institutions 
of  even  the  more  liberal  type,  it  is  still  in  the  col- 
legiate statutes  declared  that  the  President  shall  be 
a  member  of  a  specified  church.  The  President  of 
Columbia,  for  instance,  is  required  to  be  a  member 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  and  the  Presi- 
dent of  Brown  University  and  of  the  University 
of  Chicago  is  required  to  be  a  member  of  the  Bap- 
tist Church.  Although  but  few  colleges  demand 
by  their  statutes  that  their  chief  executive  officer 
shall  be  a  clergyman,  yet  Christian  and  collegiate 
opinion  in  the  case  of  many  institutions  would 
be  satisfied  with  nothing  other  than  that  the 
President  should  be  a  clergyman.  The  great 
presidents  of  the  past  have,  therefore,  necessarily 
been  clergymen.  Dwight,  of  the  first  years  of 
the  century,  at  Yale;  Kirkland,  of  the  corre- 
sponding period,  at  Harvard;  Wayiand,  of  the 
middle  period  of  the  century,  at  Brown ;  and  Nott, 
of  the  first  half  of  the  century,  at  Union,  are  ex- 
amples of  the  clergyman  as  a  college  president. 
Woolsey,  chosen  President  of  Yale  in  1846,  was 
ordained  before  he  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the 
office.  Down  to  the  middle  of  the  present  century, 
and  in  nearly  every  college,  the  President  was  a 
clergyman. 

As  colleges  ceased  to  be  primarily  ecclesiastical 
and  became  more  educational  institutions,  the 
prevalence  of  the  clerical  type  began  to  decline. 
As  State  universities  sprang  into  being,— and  into 
vigorous  being,  too, — the  clerical  type  was  found 
to  be  unfit.    For  the  State  universities  were  founded 

50 


The  College  President 

as  a  protest,  not  against  Christianity  pure  and  un- 
dented, but  against  an  extreme  type  of  denomina- 
tional Christianity.  Therefore,  gentlemen  who  were 
primarily  clergymen,  and  only  secondarily  scholars, 
were  found  ill  adapted  to  the  general  educational 
and  scholastic  environment.  Gentlemen  who  were 
primarily  scholars,  and  secondarily  clergymen, 
might,  of  course,  be  fitted  to  do  educational  work. 
Of  this  scholastic  type  are  to  be  found  some  noble 
examples  in  the  middle,  and  following  the  middle, 
years  of  this  century.  Mark  Hopkins  of  Williams, 
Robinson  of  Brown,  Seelye  of  Amherst,  Lord  of 
Dartmouth,  Barnard  of  Columbia,  and  McCosh  of 
Princeton  represent  this  type  in  its  largest  and 
richest  development. 

These  two  types,  the  clerical  and  the  scholastic, 
overlap  each  other.  Some  of  those  whom  I  name 
as  scholastic  presidents  were  ordained  clergymen 
of  their  churches.  But  be  it  said  that  the  clerical 
element  in  each  example  of  this  class  represents 
the  clerical  elements  in  a  far  less  conspicuous  and 
vital  way  than  the  scholastic.  One  thinks  of  Wool- 
sey,  for  instance,  not  as  a  clergyman  or  as  the 
author  of  a  volume  of  sermons,  but  as  a  scholar  in 
public  and  international  law.  The  first  thought, 
too,  of  Hopkins  and  of  Seelye  and  of  McCosh  is  not 
of  them  as  preachers  or  ministers,  though  they  did 
preach  and  administer  the  sacraments,  but  the  first 
thought  of  them  is  as  philosophers  and  teachers 
and  authors. 

The  third  type,  the  executive  or  administrative, 
grew  out  of  the  demands  of  the  presidential  office. 

Si 


The  College  President 


*s 


These  growing  demands  in  turn  grew  out  of  the 
enlargement  of  the  college.  When  the  greatest 
colleges  had  only  three  or  four  hundred  students, 
as  not  a  few  of  them  did  have  forty  years  ago, 
the  work  of  the  President  could  be  done  with- 
out difficulty  by  one  who  was  also  filling  a  profes- 
sor's chair.  Throughout  the  time  of  the  prevalence 
of  the  clerical  and  scholastic  type  in  the  office,  the 
President  of  the  college  was  also  usually  professor 
of  what  was  called  "  mental  and  moral  philosophy." 
But  when  a  college  in  its  undergraduate  depart- 
ment has  a  thousand  or  more  students,  and  in  all 
its  departments  a  number  running  from  two  to 
four  thousand,  the  duties  of  the  executive  officer 
cannot  well  be  performed  by  one  who  is  teaching 
twelve  hours  a  week.  The  increase  in  students  is 
accompanied  with  an  enlargement  in  all  relations. 
The  number  of  teachers  in  the  largest  colleges  has 
doubled  and  quadrupled,  and  the  endowment  has 
become  many  times  greater.  The  relations  of  col- 
leges to  the  public  schools  have  become  more 
numerous  and  more  important.  The  relations  to 
the  people  in  all  respects  have  also  been  enlarged. 
These  conditions  are  both  the  cause  and  the  effect 
of  the  prevalence  of  the  executive  or  administrative 
type  of  the  college  President. 

Of  course,  this  type  may  be  embodied  in  one 
who  is  either  a  clergyman  or  a  scholar,  or  both ;  but 
when  the  office  is  so  filled  the  clerical  or  scholastic 
relation  is  not  a  cause,  or  even  a  condition,  but  only 
an  accompanying  circumstance  or  element.  The 
President  is  not  chosen  to  a  position  demanding 

52 


The  College  President 

executive  ability  because  he  is  a  clergyman  or  be- 
cause he  is  a  scholar, — he  may  even  be  chosen  in 
spite  of  his  being  a  clergyman  or  a  scholar,— but 
he  is  chosen  simply  because  of  his  presumed  ability 
to  do  a  specific  work. 

This  third  type  is  divided,  in  its  turn,  into  two 
or  three  somewhat  diverse  elements.  For  the  Pres- 
ident of  a  new  and  poor  and  small  denominational 
college  in  a  new  State  is  an  executive,  and  the 
President  of  an  old  and  rich  and  free  and  large 
college  is  also  an  executive.  The  President  of  a 
new  college  on  the  banks  of  the  Oregon  is  an  ex- 
ecutive, and  so  is  the  President  of  Harvard  or  of 
Yale  or  of  Columbia.  In  the  executive  presidency, 
too,  the  emphasis  on  the  various  sides  of  the  office 
may  be  varied.  In  the  presidency  of  Columbia  the 
emphasis  is  placed  on  the  materially  constructive 
side.  In  the  presidency  of  Harvard  it  is  placed  on 
the  educationally  constructive  side. 

The  college  President  of  to-day  is  an  adminis- 
trator. In  his  work  as  an  administrator  are  found 
many  elements. 

Among  these  elements  as  an  administrator  is 
financial  ability.  As  a  financier  the  college  Presi- 
dent is,  first,  to  get  funds;  second,  to  invest 
funds ;  and  third,  to  use  funds.  As  he  gets  funds 
largely,  invests  funds  safely,  uses  funds  wisely, 
is  his  success  assured.  The  American  college  is 
usually  the  result  of  private  foundation.  It  gen- 
erally springs  out  of  the  generous  thought  of  an 
individual  or  a  society  of  individuals.  It  continues 
to  require  the  help  of  those,  as  supporters,  who  were 

53 


The  College  President 

its  founders.  The  President  is  to  secure,  therefore, 
the  endowment  necessary  for  the  proper  doing  and 
proper  enlarging  and  enriching  of  its  work.  He  is 
also  to  be  able  to  recognize  a  good  or  a  bad  invest- 
ment. He  may  not  be  called  upon  to  make  invest- 
ments. It  is  seldom  that  his  will  alone  determines 
what  investments  shall  be  made.  Never  should 
this  responsibility  rest  upon  him  or  upon  any  other 
person  solely.  But  he  should  know  so  much  about 
investments  as  to  be  able  to  follow  them  as  they  are 
from  time  to  time  made.  The  laws  which  govern 
the  investment  of  college  funds  are  the  same  laws 
which  govern  the  investment  of  all  trust  funds 
which  are  expected  to  yield  a  regular  income.  He 
should  also  be  so  acquainted  with  the  conditions 
of  the  different  departments  of  the  college,  with  the 
demands  of  each  for  instruction  and  instructors, 
that  it  is  easy  for  him  to  divide  the  funds  properly 
for  the  securing  of  the  great  purposes  for  which 
the  college  stands.  Of  course,  all  college  presidents 
fail  in  any  one  or  all  of  these  respects  in  varying 
degrees.  One  college  President  spends  too  much 
money  in  fitting  up  the  scientific  laboratories 
of  the  college,  the  Trustees  call  for  a  halt,  and 
ask  for  his  resignation.  One  President  makes  too 
large  investment  in  mortgage  loans  which  prove  to 
be  worth  only  half  their  face- value,  and  he  is  asked 
to  retire.  One  college  President  fails  to  interest 
the  college  constituency  in  the  increase  of  the  en- 
dowment, and  he  is  glad  to  lay  down  the  functions 
of  his  office.  In  the  thirty  years  that  President 
Eliot  has  filled  with  such  conspicuous  power  and 

54 


The  College  President 

success  the  presidency  of  Harvard,  the  increase  in 
quick  assets  has  been  about  ten  million  dollars. 
Under  the  presidency  of  a  most  vigorous  man,  the 
University  of  Chicago,  in  less  than  a  third  of  thirty 
years,  has  gathered  unto  itself  an  equal  sum.  Dr. 
McCosh,  in  a  still  earlier  time,  saw  the  funds  of 
Princeton  augmented,  in  his  score  of  years  of 
service,  by  three  millions.  The  methods  of  securing 
funds,  of  course,  vary.  To  one  President  money  is 
given  because  the  President  has  simply  said  in  his 
annual  report  that  money  is  needed.  To  another 
President  it  is  given  because  people  have  confi- 
dence in  his  financial  management  of  the  college. 
To  another  money  is  given  because  of  religious  or 
ecclesiastical  reasons.  To  a  fourth  it  is  given  be- 
cause he  asks  for  it.  He  may  ask  for  two  hundred 
dollars  and  get  twenty  thousand,  or  he  may  ask 
for  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  and  get  twenty 
thousand  or  even  two  hundred.  On  the  whole, 
college  Presidents  are  able  to  prove  that  the  college 
is  the  best  method— as  it  truly  is— for  improving 
the  conditions  of  humanity  through  the  gift  of 
large  sums  of  money. 

As  an  administrator,  the  college  President  must 
be  able  to  get  on  with  men.  Harmony  is  essential 
to  the  successful  carrying  forward  of  a  work  which 
demands  personal  service.  Harmony,  or  the  power 
of  making  adjustments,  is  sometimes  supposed  to 
be  the  sign  of  a  weak  character ;  but  this  ability  of 
maintaining  a  pleasant  relationship  between  all  the 
parts  of  the  one  force  is  a  necessary  element  in  the 
constitution  of  a  college  President.    With  at  least 

55 


The  College  President 

four  bodies,  and  it  may  be  with  five,  the  college 
President  is  brought  into  relationship.  They  are 
the  Faculty,  the  Trustees,  the  students,  the  alumni, 
and  the  public.  With  each  of  these  bodies  he  can 
maintain  any  one  of  some  six  relations.  He  may 
maintain  the  relation,  first,  of  conflict ;  second,  of 
separateness ;  third,  of  subjection;  fourth,  of 
mastery;  fifth,  of  cooperation;  and  sixth,  of  de- 
votion. Of  course,  the  relation  of  conflict  is 
sporadic.  If  the  official  hand  of  the  President  is 
against  every  man,  every  man's  official  hand  is 
against  him,  and  he  soon  ceases  to  have  any  chance 
to  have  an  official  hand  against  any  man.  Yet 
conflict  of  the  executive  officer  with  any  one  of 
these  four  or  five  bodies  is  not  unknown.  With 
the  Faculty  the  most  common  cause  of  disagree- 
ment arises  from  the  assumption  of  monarchical 
powers  on  the  part  of  the  chief  executive.  The 
Faculty  in  an  American  college  is  usually  quite 
as  democratic  as  is  American  society.  It  con- 
tains scholars  more  scholarly  than  the  President. 
It  also  not  infrequently  contains  gentlemen  of  an 
eminence  more  eminent  than  any  distinction 
that  belongs  to  its  chief  officer;  it  possesses  a 
strong  esprit  de  corps ;  it  will  not  long  endure  a 
despot.  In  case  a  Faculty  is  split  up  into  factions, 
the  willingness  of  the  President  to  recognize  these 
factions,  and  to  give  his  influence  to  any  one  of 
them,  is,  and  must  be,  a  cause  of  trouble.  The 
college  President  is  to  be  as  impartial  as  any  judge 
of  the  Supreme  Bench. 

The  President,  too,  of  a  small  college  in  a  small 

56 


The  College  President 


-& 


town  having  a  small  Faculty — as  most  colleges  are 
small  and  have  small  faculties  and  are  in  small 
towns— is  in  peril  of  seeing  things  in  dispropor- 
tion. He  is  in  peril  of  magnifying  the  small  and 
of  minimizing  the  large.  He  and  his  associates  are 
in  danger  of  lacking  "  out-of-doorness."  Such 
relations  often  result  in  conflict  of  relations.  In 
this  democratic  small  society  he  is  in  peril  of  play- 
ing the  monarch;  and  such  an  attempt  usually 
results  in  hardness  of  feeling  and  more  or  less  of  a 
disorganization.  Differences  between  the  Presi- 
dent and  boards  of  Trustees  are  most  likely  to 
arise  in  the  difficulty  of  properly  locating  responsi- 
bility. Boards  of  Trustees  are  in  danger  of  holding 
the  President  liable  for  results  which  he,  in  turn, 
thinks  are  the  duties  of  the  Board.  Such  a  diffi- 
culty exists  in  the  very  constitution  of  most  boards. 
If  the  President  of  the  college  is  also  the  president 
of  the  Board  of  Trust,  as  he  always  ought  to  be, 
and  as  in  many  cases  he  is,  he  is  by  certain  of  his 
associates  regarded  as  their  leader  and  guide,  and 
yet  by  others  his  office  may  be  interpreted  simply 
as  that  of  chairman,  who  is  to  do  the  bidding  of 
the  Board.  A  college,  for  instance,  needs  money. 
(And  what  college  does  not  ?  Every  college  ought 
to  need  money.  It  is  not  doing  its  duty,  if  it  do 
not  need  money.)  The  President  may  affirm  that 
it  is  not  his  duty  to  raise  the  money.  If  money  is 
to  be  raised,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Board  to  see  that 
it  is  raised.  The  Board  may  reply  that  this  man 
was  made  President  in  order  to  do  the  work  that 
most  needs  to  be  done.    The  work  which  most 

57 


The  College  President 

needs  doing  is  the  raising  of  money.  This  duty 
this  man  is  unwilling  to  do.  In  this  condition 
collision  is  inevitable. 

With  the  whole  body  of  students,  too,  the  Presi- 
dent may  find  himself  in  a  permanent  condition  of 
conflict.  I  do  not  now  refer  to  the  rebellions  which 
arise  from  causes  which  are  usually  transient,  but 
I  do  refer  to  the  strained  relations  which  exist  be- 
tween the  President  and  the  students.  These  most 
frequently  arise  from  the  inability  or  unwillingness 
—usually  inability— of  the  President  to  put  him- 
self in  the  place  of  the  student.  It  is  the  sheer  and 
simple  lack  of  sheer  and  simple  sympathy.  It 
springs  often  from  a  want  of  youthfulness,  a  qual- 
ity which  may  be  lacking  in  that  unchanging  in- 
dividual, the  youngest  college  President,  or  it  may 
be  potent  in  the  oldest  college  officer.  It  may  be 
manifest  in  his  dealing  with  the  individual  student, 
or  it  may  be  made  manifest  in  his  dealings  with 
the  whole  body  of  the  students.  The  lack  may  be 
constitutional.  He  may  wish  to  see  and  feel  and 
will  as  the  students  see  and  feel  and  will,  but  he 
finds  himself  unable  to  enter  into  their  state  of 
mind.  He  moves  in  a  different  sphere  from  theirs. 
They  move  in  a  different  sphere  from  his.  The 
two  circles  may  touch  each  other  at  only  one  point, 
and  then  only  to  repel.  He  may  possibly  not  de- 
sire to  be  one  with  the  students.  Their  interests 
are  to  him  objects  of  indifference,  and  with  their 
concerns  he  is  not  concerned.  Conflict,  too,  with 
men  who  are  graduates  may  spring  from  perpetuat- 
ing conflicts  had  with  the  same  men  when  they  were 

58 


The  College  President 

undergraduates.  Differences  of  this  nature,  so  far 
as  they  have  no  relation  with  the  undergraduate 
conditions,  may  arise  from  a  lack  of  frankness  on 
the  part  of  the  Board  of  Trust  or  of  the  President. 
Colleges  differ  much  with  respect  to  the  freedom 
with  which  they  take  their  friends  and  their  alumni 
into  their  confidence.  Certain  colleges  have  for 
years  been  most  free  in  conveying  all  information 
regarding  their  internal  organization  and  financial 
management  to  the  world,  and  to  their  former  stu- 
dents, and  to  every  one  who  may  wish  to  receive  it. 
The  ground  is  that  the  college  is  a  public  institu- 
tion. The  college  appeals  to  the  public  for  students 
and  for  funds.  Therefore  the  public  has  a  right  to 
know  what  use  has  been  made  of  the  funds  received, 
and  also  what  it  would  do  with  funds  for  which  it 
is  asking.  Cornell  and  Harvard  are  as  fitting  ex- 
amples as  can  be  found  of  the  freedom  of  colleges 
in  opening  to  the  people  their  methods  and  condi- 
tions, financial  and  scholastic.  Certain  colleges, 
on  the  other  hand,  have  been  loath  to  let  the 
people  know  regarding  their  internal  conditions 
and  administration.  The  ground  is  that  the  col- 
lege is  a  private  institution.  It  is  incorporated  as 
a  private  institution,  and  the  public  and  even  its 
graduates  have  no  more  right  to  know  regarding 
its  condition  than  they  have  to  know  about  the 
condition  of  the  Standard  Oil  Company  or  the 
Sugar  Trust.  Amherst  and  Princeton  have  for 
years  represented  this  tendency  and  condition, 
and,  of  course,  upon  what  seem  to  their  officers  as 
ample  and  sufficient  grounds.     It  is  to  be  said  that 

59 


The  College  President 

if  the  college  wishes  to  keep  itself  in  touch  with  its 
graduates,  it  should  adjust  itself  and  its  conditions 
to  the  principle  that  knowledge  is  the  mother  of 
interest,  and  interest  is  the  mother  of  beneficence. 
The  chief  cause  of  a  conflict  between  a  college 
President  and  the  people  is  a  lack  of  common  sense. 
The  college  President  seldom  or  never  comes  into 
conflict  with  the  public  except  through  the  news- 
paper. The  newspaper  is  the  ground  upon  which 
the  battle  is  fought,  or,  to  change  the  figure,  it  may 
be  the  very  guns  into  which  the  opposing  sides  put 
their  ammunition;— and  usually,  be  it  added,  the 
editors  or  publishers  of  such  journals  are  only  too 
eager  to  receive  such  forces.  The  origin  of  these 
public  difficulties  is  found  frequently  to  be  resting 
both  with  the  newspaper  and  with  the  President — 
more  usually  with  the  newspaper  than  with  the 
President,  but  its  origin  is  sometimes  found  in  the 
President.  The  great  trouble  with  the  newspaper 
is  that  it  does  not,  in  many  instances,  sufficiently 
recognize  the  importance  of  its  reportorial  depart- 
ment to  cause  proper  reports  of  the  doings  of  the 
college  or  of  the  utterances  of  its  officers  to  be 
made.  In  the  matter  of  public  influence  the  re- 
portorial department  of  the  American  newspaper 
has  come  far  to  excel  the  editorial  department,  and 
yet  the  intellectual  training  that  is  employed  in 
the  editorial  department  is  far  superior  to  that 
employed  in  the  reportorial.  There  is  no  need  of 
diminishing  the  ability  put  into  the  editorial  col- 
umn, but  there  is  vast  need  of  increasing  the  truth- 
fulness of  the  reportorial  columns.     The   origin 

60 


The  College  President 

of  any  possible  conflict,  when  found  on  the  side 
of  the  President,  usually  arises  from  his  failure 
to  recognize  the  importance  of  his  utterances  made 
to  representatives  of  the  newspaper.  He  is  inclined 
not  to  guard  his  utterances  properly  or  to  make 
them  sufficiently  clear  and  comprehensive. 

These  causes  of  conflict,  existing  in  a  small  de- 
gree, often  show  themselves  simply  in  separation. 
Remoteness  of  the  college  President  from  his  offi- 
cial associates  and  associations,  or  remoteness  of 
his  associates  from  him,  results  in  ineffectiveness. 
Force  in  the  collegiate  organization  is  composed  of 
many  elements  and  of  numerous  forces,  and  such 
forces  must  be  closely  united  to  secure  adequacy 
of  result.  The  President  must  keep  in  close  touch 
with  the  members  of  the  Faculty.  He  should  know 
the  needs  of  each  department  in  order  that  each 
department  may  do  its  full  duty  to  the  students, 
and  also  in  order  to  give  him  light  as  to  the  appro- 
priations designed  for  each  different  department. 
The  President  should  keep  in  close  touch  with  the 
Trustees,  in  order  that  he  may  know  them,  and 
that  they  may  know  him,  and  therefore  have  con- 
fidence in  his  recommendations  and  approve  of  his 
methods,  in  case  they  are  worthy  of  confidence  and 
of  approval.  He  should  keep  in  close  touch  with 
the  students  also,  in  order  that  they  may  so 
know  him  and  he  so  know  them  as  to  help  them. 
He  should  keep  in  close  touch  with  the  alumni, 
for  they  represent  that  part  of  the  people  which 
should,  and  usually  does,  feel  the  most  intense  in- 
terest in  the  college  and  in  its  progress.     He  should 

61 


The  College  President 

keep  in  touch  with  the  people,  for  the  college  is 
essentially  a  public  institution.  It  draws  its  stu- 
dents from  the  people  whom  it  trains  for  public 
service,  and  it  looks  to  the  people  for  power  and 
enrichment  of  every  sort. 

The  college  President,  in  getting  along  with 
men,  is  not  usually  able  to  assume  the  role  of 
master.  Autocratic,  monarchical  government  in 
the  State  undoubtedly  results  in  economy  of  ad- 
ministration in  the  securing  of  justice,  in  the  safety 
of  life,  and  in  the  security  of  property,  in  case 
the  monarch  has  perfect  wisdom  and  goodness  as 
well  as  absolute  power.  But  such  wisdom,  such 
goodness,  and  such  power  are  seldom  found. 
Autocratic,  monarchical  government  in  the  college 
undoubtedly  secures  the  richest  results,  provided 
the  monarch  has  perfect  wisdom  and  goodness 
as  well  as  absolute  power.  But  such  wisdom  and 
goodness  and  power  are  seldom  found  even  in  the 
college !  Therefore,  the  method  of  the  master  is 
not  to  be  followed  in  the  college.  The  method  re- 
sults in  evils  of  all  sorts— bickerings,  disaffections, 
resignations,  rebellions,  revolutions,  ineffectiveness. 

The  relation  between  the  President  and  all  the 
directly  or  indirectly  constituted  parts  of  the  college 
should  be  one  of  cooperation  and  devotion.  The 
President  should  be  devoted  to  every  interest  of 
the  college,  and  should  cooperate  with  every  agency 
which  works  for  or  in  the  college.  No  want  to  him 
should  be  unknown,  and  by  him  no  need  should  be 
unrecognized.  Knowledge  of  each  department 
should  be  his,  not  only  for  his  own  use,  but  also 

62 


The  College  President 

that  he  may  convey  the  knowledge  to  others  for 
the  more  adequate  filling  of  all  needs.  He  should 
recognize  the  claims  of  the  sciences  and  of  the  lan- 
guages, of  physics  and  metaphysics.  Every  in- 
terest of  the  student  should  be  his  interest.  He 
should,  like  McCosh,  love  "  my  boys."  With  every 
college  organization  he  should  be  in  close  touch. 
Every  athletic  or  dramatic  interest  should  be  his 
concern.  Any  demand  of  a  department  which  he 
cannot  fill  should  give  him  sorrow;  every  wish 
of  a  professor  which  he  cannot  gratify  should  give 
him  regret.  Cooperation  with  every  co-worker  and 
devotion  to  every  associate,  sympathy  with  every 
interest,  should  be  his  happy  mood  and  constant 
endeavor. 

In  this  cooperative  service  the  President  is 
tempted  to  make  such  a  use  of  the  tools  of  speech 
that  he  becomes  in  peril  of  being  regarded  as  a 
liar.  The  remark  is  common  that  all  college  presi- 
dents lie.  The  falseness  of  the  remark  does  not 
at  all  lessen  the  truth  of  the  fact  that  all  college 
presidents  are  tempted  to  lie,  and  are  tempted  pos- 
sibly more  strongly  than  most  men.  The  reputa- 
tion for  deception  which  has  come  to  cling  about 
the  office  arises  from  the  desire  of  the  President  to 
satisfy  personal  or  official  interests  which  are  in 
mutual  opposition.  Therefore  he  is  tempted  to 
mold  the  pliable  clay  of  truth  to  suit  an  auditor 
or  petitioner.  Of  course  the  method  is  suicidal, 
and  it  is,  I  am  sure,  easy  for  the  reader  to  think 
of  more  than  one  college  President  whose  repu- 
tation for  untruthfulness  has  cost  him  his  office. 

63 


The  College  President 

As  an  administrator  the  college  President  is  a 
leader.  He  is  obliged  to  take  the  initiative.  Col- 
lege bodies  are  conservative.  Scholarship  is  con- 
servative, and  scholarship  mnst  be  conservative. 
Scholarship  relates  to  and  deals  with  the  achieve- 
ments of  the  past.  What  is  called  academicity  is 
only  conservatism  gone  to  seed.  Professors  are 
conservative.  Their  work  tends  to  create  content- 
ment with  existing  conditions.  Trustees  are  con- 
servative. Judge  Simeon  E.  Baldwin  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Connecticut,  and  professor  of 
constitutional  law  in  Yale  University,  in  a  paper 
on  the  "Readjustment  of  the  Collegiate  to  the 
Professional  Course,"  read  before  the  American 
Bar  Association  in  August,  1898,  says :  "  The  cor- 
porations which  control  our  colleges  are  naturally 
and  properly  bodies  of  slow  movement.  They  are 
commonly  dominated  by  the  President,  and  he  by 
the  policy  of  his  predecessors.  Jeremy  Bentham 
said  that  he  did  not  like  boards :  they  always  made 
fences.  Behind  their  shelter  a  blind  adherence  to 
traditional  policy  intrenches  itself  unseen.  It  is 
generally  fortified  by  the  sentiment  of  the  older 
members  of  the  Faculty  of  the  institution.  Their 
motto  is  apt  to  be,  *  Quieta  non  moveri.' "  Trustees 
are  inclined  to  let  the  gospel  of  hope  be  silent  at 
the  shrine  of  the  well-enough.  In  the  desire  to 
avoid  risks  and  to  escape  from  rashness,  they 
are  prone  to  take  no  risks  and  to  make  no  ventures. 
Of  course,  the  question  is  largely  the  old  question 
between  conservatism  and  progressiveness.  But 
in  this  contest  there  is  no  question  but  that  the 

64 


The  College  President 

President  must  inevitably  stand  on  the  side  of  the 
progressive.  Some  colleges,  like  some  countries, 
seem  to  be  advancing,  while  others  are  petrified. 
But  the  President  must  be  found  among  the  ad- 
vancing forces.  No  college  President  that  turns 
his  face  toward  the  past  only  or  chiefly  should  be 
allowed  to  hold  his  place.  In  fact,  every  college 
that  turns  its  face  toward  the  past  only  or  chiefly 
is  dying,  and  ought  to  die.  Every  college  President 
who  does  not  turn  his  face  toward  the  future  active- 
ly and  chiefly  is  unworthy  of  his  place.  The  college 
or  the  college  President  that  is  simply  standing 
still  is  like  the  bicycle  that  is  standing  still :  it  is 
not  standing  still ;  it  is  falling.  Every  college  that 
is  not  advancing  is  like  the  wave  that  is  not  ad- 
vancing: it  is  breaking.  In  this  forward  move- 
ment the  President  must  maintain  active  aggressive 
leadership.  This  leadership  applies  to  the  field  of 
finance.  He  must  create  faith  that  funds  can  be 
got,  and  this  faith  he  must  make  rational  by  get- 
ting the  funds.  This  leadership  applies  to  educa- 
tion too,  and  he  must  cause  every  adjustment  of 
knowledge  and  of  teaching  to  fit  into  the  enlarging 
and  changing  needs  of  the  community.  Among 
the  educational  leaders  of  this  age  two  men  are 
preeminent.  They  are  the  first  President  of  Vas- 
sar  College  and  the  present  President  of  Harvard 
College.  They  both  came  to  their  offices  in  that 
great  seventh  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century; 
they  both  gave  light  for  darkness  concerning  edu- 
cation ;  they  both  quickened  interest ;  they  both 
aroused  enthusiasm ;    they  both  created  strength ; 

65 


The  College  President 

they  both  inspired  followers  and  associates  into 
rendering  superb  service  to  the  cause  of  human 
education  and  betterment.  I  write  of  both  in  the 
past  tense.  The  present  tense  should  be  used  of 
one :  long  may  it  prove  to  be  the  only  tense  to  be 
fittingly  used  of  him  ! 

This  power  of  leadership  is  akin  to,  and  yet  dis- 
tinct from,  the  power  of  inspiration.  This  power 
of  inspiration  is  largely  the  power  of  personality. 
It  is  a  power  born  in  a  man,  and  yet,  of  course,  it 
may  be  cultivated,  enlarged,  and  enriched.  A  vital 
personality  usually  has  the  elements  of  good  health, 
an  alert  intellect,  a  winsome  heart,  and  a  strong 
will. 

It  has  its  basis  in  the  body,  and  it  also  gath- 
ers to  itself  the  strength  of  the  intellectual,  emo- 
tional, and  volitional  nature  of  man.  Through 
such  an  inspiring  personality  the  teacher  is  helped, 
by  it  the  student  finds  his  work  made  easier,  and 
by  its  means  the  trustee  discovers  that  insuper- 
able difficulties  are  not  insuperable.  In  the  pres- 
ence of  such  vigor  the  graduates  keep  themselves- 
in  touch  with  their  college  the  more  directly.  The 
public  schools  also  feel  the  impulse  of  so  vigor- 
ous a  force;  and  the  whole  constituency  of  the 
college  is  filled  with  hopefulness  by  reason  of  such 
virile  strength  and  splendid  faith.  Such  inspira- 
tion and  such  leadership  have  been  given  by  not 
a  few  college  presidents  who  are  still  living.  In 
recent  years  the  names  of  such  administrators  as 
Tappan  of  Michigan,  as  Cattell  of  Lafayette,  as 
Pepper  of  Pennsylvania,  embodying  virile  elements 

66 


The  College  President 

of  character  and  of  leadership,  have  come  to  shine 
as  the  stars. 

As  an  administrator  the  President  is  not  to  for- 
get that  he  bears  a  close  relation  to  other  parts  of 
the  whole  educational  system  of  his  nation.  For 
the  educational  system  is  one.  Weakness  in  a 
single  part  is  weakness  in  every  part.  Strength 
in  a  single  part  is  strength  in  all  parts.  It  would 
be  well,  for  certain  reasons,  to  do  away  with  the 
divisions  into  the  lower  education  and  the  higher, 
as  are  seen  in  the  primary,  the  grammar,  and  the 
high  schools,  and  the  college.  The  division  gives 
too  many  and  too  easy  stopping-places  for  students 
who  should  go  on.  But  the  power  of  unifying,  in- 
spiring, correlating  the  educational  system  must 
come  from  above.  If  most  political  revolutions 
spring  up  from  below,  most  educational  revolutions 
spring  down  from  above.  A  college  President 
worthy  and  wise  is  especially  fitted  to  aid  the  whole 
cause  of  education.  He  has  a  vision  of  the  field  as 
no  one  who  is  engaged  in  other  parts  of  the  same 
field  can  have.  He  has  been  a  member  of  it  as  a 
student,  and  most  frequently  as  a  teacher  also.  Its 
students  he  receives  into  the  college.  Many  of  the 
graduates  of  his  college  become  teachers  in  it.  It 
is  a  college  President  who  has  given  the  best  en- 
richment to  the  program  of  grammar  schools.  He 
also  should  be  in  a  close  relation  with  professional 
education.  His  graduates  become  lawyers,  doctors, 
ministers,  and  he  is  deeply  interested  in  giving  to 
them  a  proper  training  for  their  professional  ser- 
vice.    The  current  feeling  entertained  by  certain 

67 


The  College  President 

grammar-  and  high-school  teachers  of  the  remote- 
ness of  colleges  and  college  officers  from  their 
schools  should  pass  away,  and  it  is  passing  away. 
If  certain  college  officers  have  given  occasion  for 
the  feeling,  the  occasions  are  becoming  less  fre- 
quent. If  teachers  in  the  "grades"  have  been 
sensitive,  they  are  becoming  less  sensitive.  The 
college  President  is  not  to  lord  it  over  Israel,  but 
to  lead,  to  help,  to  inspire  Israel. 

The  President  also  should  be  a  man  uniting 
openness  to  suggestion  with  a  clearly  defined 
policy  and  resolute  independence.  His  love  for 
his  college  is  so  warm,  his  desire  that  it  shall 
adequately  fill  its  opportunity  is  so  great,  that  he 
welcomes  every  intimation  that  may  prove  to  be 
of  aid  in  the  adjusting  of  power  to  need.  For  he 
has  no  thought  that  he  is  the  people,  or  that  wis- 
dom will  die  with  him.  The  suggestions  which  he 
receives  may  prove  to  be  largely  worthless,  and 
yet,  possibly,  one  out  of  the  hundreds  may  contain 
the  seed  of  a  vast  and  noble  fruitage.  It  was  said 
of  Emerson  that  he  seemed  to  welcome  every  man 
and  every  message  as  possibly  being  the  bearer  of 
some  precious  blessing.  In  this  mood  of  expectancy 
the  college  President  works  and  hopes.  Yet,  al- 
though this  is  his  disposition  and  outlook,  his  con- 
ception of  his  own  duty  is  clear.  He  knows  what 
the  college  is,  and  better  than  any  one  else  he 
knows  what  it  should  become.  He  also  knows  the 
method  by  which  the  supreme  or  minor  ends  are 
to  be  secured.  He  should  have  as  definite  a  policy 
as  Mark  Pattison,  rector  of  Lincoln,  had  for  his 

68 


The  College  President 

college.  The  policy  which  he  holds  should  not  be 
a  general  policy  equally  good  for  all  colleges.  The 
President  of  the  American  college  has  not  infre- 
quently erred  in  judging  that  the  policy  which  is 
good  for  one  college  is  also  good  for  the  college  of 
which  he  is  an  officer.  The  presidents  of  colleges 
are  now,  however,  coming  to  appreciate  the  differ- 
entiation of  functions  of  different  colleges.  Dif- 
ferent colleges  serve  different  purposes,  or,  if  they 
serve  the  same  purpose,  they  secure  this  purpose 
by  different  means.  It  may  be  said  that  the  pur- 
pose of  each  college  is,  first,  to  train  its  students 
to  noble  manhood  through  noble  scholarship  and 
noble  personal  associations,  and,  second,  to  extend 
the  boundaries  of  knowledge.  But  these  two  pur- 
poses do  not  apply  with  equal  force  to  different 
colleges.  One  college  should  lay  the  emphasis  on 
knowledge  and  another  upon  manhood.  The  ordi- 
nary New  England  college  does,  and  should,  lay 
emphasis  upon  undergraduate  work  for  the  purpose 
of  training  character.  Harvard  College  is  com- 
ing to  lay  greater  emphasis  upon  graduate  work. 
Johns  Hopkins  University  has,  from  the  time  of 
its  establishment  in  1876,  laid  a  stronger  emphasis 
upon  graduate  work  and  the  extension  of  know- 
ledge than  upon  undergraduate  service.  The  presi- 
dents of  Colby  and  Bowdoin  and  Bates  in  Maine 
are  obliged  to  accept  a  policy  unlike  that  which  is 
adopted  by  the  presidents  of  Columbia  and  Prince- 
ton and  Chicago.  Columbia  is  placed  in  the  me- 
tropolis, and  therefore  has  a  policy  different  from 
that    of  Princeton,   placed    in   a    suburb   of    the 

69 


The  College  President 

metropolis.  In  the  year  1853  the  late  President 
Rogers  of  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Tech- 
nology, while  professor  in  the  University  of  Vir- 
ginia, wrote  to  his  brother  Henry :  "  Merely  col- 
legiate establishments  do  not  prosper  in  any  of 
our  large  cities." l  The  policy  of  a  college  in  a 
large  city  must  differ  from  that  of  a  college  in 
a  small  village.  It  was  not  long  after  the  College 
of  New  Jersey  voted  to  call  itself  Princeton  Uni- 
versity that  the  President  of  what  has  for  several 
years  been  known  as  Colby  University  persuaded 
its  Trustees  to  call  the  institution  Colby  College. 
In  each  of  these  cases  President  Rogers  had  a 
sound  policy,  which  grew  out  of  the  conditions 
of  his  institution.  The  President  of  a  college  in 
central  New  York— small  in  number  of  students, 
but  rich  in  history — was,  previous  to  his  election, 
requested  by  the  Trustees  to  accept  of  the  position 
upon  the  ground  that  it  was  desired  to  transfer  the 
college  into  a  university.  He  declined  to  consider 
the  invitation.  He  knew  that  there  was  no  need 
of  another  university  in  the  central  part  of  the 
State  of  New  York.  When,  on  reflection,  the 
Trustees  asked  him  to  become  President  of  the  col- 
lege, he  assented.  The  result  is  proving  the  wis- 
dom of  his  prevision  and  choice.  Every  college 
President  must,  with  all  his  receptiveness,  clearly 
put  before  himself  a  policy  for  the  institution 
which  he  serves,  and  with  the  clear  definition 
that  he  makes  to  himself  of  his  college  should  be 
united  a  will  sufficiently  resolute  that  policy  to 

1  "  Life  and  Letters  of  William  Barton  Rogers,"  Vol.  I,  p.  329. 

70 


The  College  President 

execute.  Without  crankiness  or  stubbornness, 
he  should  insist  upon  the  working  out  of  his 
own  plan.  He  is,  of  course,  willing  to  surrender 
minor  aims  in  order  to  secure  the  far-off  and  most 
precious  purpose,  but  that  purpose,  wisely  con- 
ceived, he  is  to  hold  most  dear,  and  for  it  to  work 
with  constancy,  with  enthusiasm,  and  with  inde- 
pendence. He  is,  therefore,  to  have  in  himself  the 
elements  of  a  statesman.  He  is  to  be  in  essence 
what  Leslie  Stephen  says  of  Henry  Fawcett :  "  He 
possessed  some  of  the  most  essential  qualities  of  a 
statesman — independence,  soundness  of  judgment, 
and  a  power  of  commanding  the  sympathies  with- 
out nattering  the  meaner  instincts  of  the  people." x 
The  college  President  as  an  administrator  is  also 
to  be  a  judge  of  men.  No  small  part  of  his  work 
is  to  recommend  men  for  certain  positions.  In 
not  a  few  colleges  his  will  as  to  appointments 
is,  as  is  indicated  in  the  preceding  chapter,  prac- 
tically monarchical.  In  other  colleges  his  will  is 
only  one  of  several  forces  cooperating  in  making 
appointments.  But,  at  all  events,  his  influence  is 
considerable  in  the  constitution  of  the  appointing 
power.  In  the  making  of  appointments  he  is 
obliged  to  consider  the  elements  which  constitute 
the  value  of  a  teacher  to  the  college.  Among  these 
elements  are  scholarship,  ability  in  the  class-room, 
the  pursuit  of  original  investigations  or  the  writ- 
ing of  books,  executive  or  administrative  power, 
personal  character  as  embodying  the  great  pur- 
poses for  which  a  college  stands,  and  interest  in 

1  "  Life  of  Henry  Fawcett,"  by  Leslie  Stephen,  p.  449. 
71 


The  College  President 

the  general  relations  of  the  college  or  of  the  whole 
university.  He  is  often  obliged  to  compare  and  to 
balance  these  elements.  The  demands,  too,  which 
the  people  make  upon  the  officers  of  the  college 
whom  he  appoints  differ  at  different  times. 

"  The  most  important  function  of  the  President," 
said  President  Eliot,  thirty  years  ago,  "  is  that  of 
advising  the  Corporation  concerning  appointments, 
particularly  about  appointments  of  young  men  who 
have  not  had  time  and  opportunity  to  approve 
themselves  to  the  public.  It  is  in  discharging  this 
duty  that  the  President  holds  the  future  of  the 
university  in  his  hands.  He  cannot  do  it  well 
unless  he  have  insight,  unless  he  be  able  to  recog- 
nize, at  times  beneath  some  crusts,  the  real  gentle- 
man and  the  natural  teacher.  This  is  the  one 
oppressive  responsibility  of  the  President:  all 
other  cares  are  light  beside  it.  To  see  every  day 
the  evil  fruit  of  a  bad  appointment  must  be  the 
cruelest  of  official  torments.  Fortunately  the  good 
effect  of  a  judicious  appointment  is  also  inestima- 
ble; and  here,  as  everywhere,  good  is  more  pene- 
trating and  diffusive  than  evil." 1 

In  the  report  of  Jared  T.  Newman  as  alumni 
Trustee  of  Cornell  University  (June,  1898),  he 
says,  quoting  from  the  report  in  1888  by  Dr. 
Jordan,  now  the  President  of  Leland  Stanford 
Junior  University :  "  The  Faculty  was  the  glory  of 
old  Cornell.  It  was  the  strength  of  the  men  whom, 
with  marvelous  insight,  President  White  called 
about  him  in  1868  that  made  the  Cornell  we  knew. 

i  "Educational  Reform,"  pp.  35,  36. 
72 


The  College  President 

Everything  else  was  raw,  crude,  discouraging ;  but 
with  the  teachers  was  inspiration.  The  '  subtle 
influence  of  character,'  the  association  with  men, 
has  been  the  heart  of  the  Cornell  education  in  the 
past." 

The  college  President  is  also  to  be  able  to  appre- 
ciate scholarship,  as  well  as  to  be  a  judge  of  scholars. 
He  may  not  himself  be  a  scholar.  Executive  work 
which  consists  of  details  is  an  enemy  to  scholarship, 
which  demands  that  time  be  unbroken.  The  presi- 
dents of  colleges  whose  scholarship  is  comparable 
with  the  scholarship  of  the  best  professors  are  very 
few.  The  change  in  this  respect  in  the  last  three 
decades  is  exceedingly  marked.  Hill  and  Felton 
and  Walker  were  scholars,  and  so  were  Woolsey 
and  Porter  and  Barnard  and  Hopkins,  and  so  also 
was  McCosh,  as  well  as  Wood  of  Bowdoin ,  and 
so  the  present  presidents  of  Yale,  of  Princeton,  of 
Johns  Hopkins,  and  of  the  University  of  Kansas 
are  scholars.  But  when  one  comes  to  count  up 
the  number  of  college  presidents  who  can  justly 
lay  claim  to  scholarship,  he  finds  them  a  feeble 
folk  and  small.  The  cause  is  evident  enough: 
the  administrator  has  no  time  for  the  quiet  pur- 
suit of  learning.  The  college  President  is  not  a 
teacher;  he  is  an  executive.  His  work  is  to  do 
things,  not  to  tell  about  them.  But  neverthe- 
less he  is  to  be  in  most  complete  sympathy  with 
scholarship,  and  he  is  ever  to  have  the  largest  ap- 
preciation of  scholarship.  If  the  college  teacher 
is  set  to  teach,  he  is  also  given  the  duty  of  extend- 
ing the  boundaries  of  human  knowledge.     In  this 

73 


The  College  President 

extension  he  should  find  no  heart  more  eager,  no 
mind  more  appreciative,  no  purse  more  liberal,  than 
that  of  the  college  President.  The  scientific  labora- 
tories in  which  investigations  are  made  such  as  those 
which  Morley  is  carrying  on  in  Western  Reserve, 
or  Webster  is  carrying  on  in  Clark,  or  Benjamin 
Osgood  Peirce  is  carrying  on  at  Harvard,  should 
be  the  objects  of  direct  and  constant  interest  to  him. 
The  exploration  of  the  various  parts  of  the  earth- 
geology,  geography,  archaeology  —  should  represent 
to  him  a  field  of  duty  and  of  privilege  which  he 
should  be  most  eager  in  urging  people  to  cultivate. 
The  college  President  may  not  himself  be  a  scholar 
of  any  sort,  but  he  is  not  worthy  of  his  place  unless 
he  knows  what  scholarship  is,  and  unless  scholar- 
ship he  admires  and  is  willing  to  work  for  it  hard. 
A  college  President  is  also  to  be  able  to  command 
the  confidence  of  the  people.  He  is  to  deserve  this 
confidence  through  his  ability  as  a  financier.  He 
is,  as  I  have  before  intimated,  the  custodian  of  trust 
funds;  is  he  worthy  of  being  such  a  custodian? 
He  is  a  solicitor  for  funds ;  is  he  worthy  of  receiv- 
ing? In  a  market  in  which  money  commands  a 
lower  rate  of  interest  in  each  passing  year,  is  he 
able  to  maintain  a  proper  rate  of  interest,  and  also 
to  keep  good  the  security  of  loans?  No  college 
will  usually  secure  endowment  unless  its  President 
is  known  to  be  worthy  of  financial  confidence.  He 
is  also  to  be  able  to  receive  civic  confidence.  He 
should  be  known  as  a  good  citizen.  He  may  or 
may  not  have  the  influence  of  Witherspoon  in  the 
formative  years  of  our  nation,  of  Low  in  the  city 

74 


The  College  President 


"5 


of  New  York,  of  Slocuni  in  Colorado,  of  Julius  H. 
Seel  ye  in  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  or  of 
Wayland  in  Rhode  Island ;  but  he  should  be  able 
to  win  the  confidence  of  the  people  respecting  his 
love  for  the  nation,  respecting  his  desire  to  serve  the 
nation  in  the  best  ways,  and  respecting  his  ability 
to  render  service  of  value  to  the  nation.  He  is  also 
to  receive  the  confidence  of  the  people  as  a  catholic- 
minded  gentleman.  All  narrowness  is  to  be  as 
remote  from  him  as  are  the  two  poles  from  each 
other.  He  is  to  be  a  large  man,  even  if  he  cannot 
be  great.  He  is  to  be  a  broad  man,  even  if  he  can- 
not be  a  profound  one.  He  is  to  be  conservative, 
gathering  up  all  the  past  for  our  inheritance;  he 
is  to  be  progressive,  remembering  that  new  occa- 
sions not  only  teach  new  duties,  but  also  create 
new  rights.  If  he  is  a  poor  man  in  purse,  as  he 
usually  is,  he  should  be  able  to  be  at  home  in  the 
houses  of  the  rich  without  thinking  that  they  are 
rich  or  without  making  them  think  that  he  is  poor. 
If  he  is  a  rich  man,  as  it  is  desirable  for  him  to  be, 
he  should  be  able  to  be  at  home  in  the  houses  of 
the  poor  without  making  them  think  that  he  is 
rich  or  without  his  thinking  that  they  are  poor. 
The  causes  of  capital  and  labor  should  find  in  him 
a  good  friend,  a  just  judge,  and  a  willing  cooper- 
ator  in  and  for  all  rights. 

For  as  a  large-minded  man  he  is  a  trustee  for 
the  whole  community.  Such  trusteeship  is  of  pe- 
culiar value  in  the  American  community ;  for  the 
American  community  is  a  mobile  one.  It  can  be 
without   difficulty    stampeded.     Such    leadership, 

75 


The  College  President 


l<^ 


such  catholicity,  were  found  more  conspicuously 
in  the  late  Provost  Pepper  than  in  most  of  his 
contemporary  presidents.  He  is  also  to  merit 
public  confidence  as  a  Christian,  but  not  as  a  sec- 
tarian. The  American  college  is  Christian,  and 
the  indications  are  that  it  will  remain  Christian; 
and  the  people,  be  it  said,  are  coming  to  learn 
that  the  colleges  can  be  Christian  without  being 
denominational.  The  President  of  a  strictly  de- 
nominational college  may  be  a  member  of  that 
denomination ;  but  even  in  this  instance  it  would 
be  well  for  the  denominational  relation  to  be  less 
prominent  than  the  Christian  in  the  case  both 
of  the  personality  and  of  the  institution.  The 
President  of  an  American  college  should  be  a  be- 
liever in  the  fundamental  principles  that  constitute 
essential  Christianity.  The  college  that  has  as  its 
chief  officer  an  agnostic  in  theology  will  find  that 
its  progress  is  impeded.  The  true  method  and 
spirit  are  indicated  by  a  broad-minded  theologian 
and  historian,  Professor  George  P.  Fisher,  in  say- 
ing :  "  Yale  College  was  founded  by  religious  people 
for  religious  ends.  It  has  been  the  first  aim  and 
prayer  of  the  eminent  men  who  in  past  times  have 
held  its  offices  of  government  and  instruction,  that 
the  principles  of  the  gospel  of  Christ  should  be 
inculcated  here,  and  the  spirit  of  a  living  faith  in 
the  verities  of  revealed  religion  should  prevail 
among  teachers  and  pupils.  .  .  .  We  have  a  right 
to  declare,  then,  that,  considering  the  history  of 
the  college,  the  men  who  imparted  to  it  the  prin- 
ciples that  have  given  it  success,  and  the  generous, 

76 


The  College  President 

truly  Christian  spirit  in  which  it  has  been  man- 
aged, its  guardians  would  be  unfaithful  to  the 
charge  that  has  been  transmitted  to  them,  if  they 
turned  their  backs  on  religion,  or  if,  out  of  com- 
plaisance to  a  spurious  and  treacherous  notion  of 
catholicity,  they  were  to  allow  a  sectarian,  proselyt- 
ing tendency  to  gain  a  foothold  within  these  an- 
cient walls,  where  it  would  labor  to  subvert  the  true 
Christian  liberality  that  has  marked  the  administra- 
tion of  the  college." x 

In  demanding  that  the  American  college  Presi- 
dent should  thus  be  a  believer  in  essential  Chris- 
tianity, one  is  simply  applying  what  are  the  es- 
sential doctrines  of  the  fundamental  instruments 
of  the  American  government. 

The  college  President  is  also  to  be  a  wise  man. 
He  is  to  possess  knowledge,  and  this  knowledge  is 
to  be  constantly  applied  to  affairs.  He  is  to  have 
a  vision  of  public  needs,  and  these  needs  he  is  to  do 
what  he  can,  directly  and  indirectly,  to  fill.  He  is 
to  forecast  the  future.  He  is  to  perceive  in  what 
ways  the  college  can  best  serve  the  community. 
He  is  to  be  able  to  distinguish  transient  gusts  of 
passion  from  lasting  movements.  He  is  even  to  be 
able,  as  has  been  said  of  McCosh,  "  to  distinguish 
between  the  transient  and  the  enduring,  the  illu- 
sory and  the  real,  in  character,  in  thought,  in  edu- 
cation, and  in  religion."  He  is  to  be  in  touch  with 
all  definite  movements  in  education,  and  he  is  not 
to  neglect  these  general  tendencies  in  order  to  do 

1  William  L.  Kingsley,  "Yale  College :  A  Sketch  of  its  History," 
PP.  154,  155. 

77 


The  College  President 

his  own  college  work.  He  is  to  have  that  breadth 
of  view  which  characterizes  the  wise  man,  and  he  is 
not  to  suffer  that  neglect  of  details  which  marks 
some  foolish  men. 

It  is  needless  to  say,  and  yet  it  may  not  unfit- 
tingly be  said,  that  the  college  President  is  to  be  a 
good  man.  He  may  well  strive  to  be  the  best  man 
— as  was  said  of  President  Day  of  Yale  by  President 
Woolsey,  most  worthy  man  speaking  of  man  most 
worthy :  "  I  suppose  that  if  the  nearly  twenty-five 
hundred  graduates  who  were  educated  in  Yale 
College  between  1817  and  1846  were  asked  who  was 
the  best  man  they  knew,  they  would,  with  a  very 
general  agreement,  assign  that  high  place  to  Jere- 
miah Day." l  He  is  to  be  great  in  his  simple 
goodness. 

I  should  not  close  this  chapter  without  recording 
even  briefly  a  sense  of  the  satisfaction  which  be- 
longs to  the  President  of  our  American  college. 
This  satisfaction  is  manifold. 

(1)  The  first  satisfaction  to  be  named  is  the  op- 
portunity of  living  with  youth.  Youth  has  at  least 
three  characteristics :  it  is  vital,  it  is  hopeful,  it  is 
picturesque.  Even  if  the  picturesque  side  of  youth 
should  show  itself  in  forms  either  ridiculous  or 
admirable,  it  is  always  interesting.  (2)  The  op- 
portunity of  living  with  scholars  and  gentlemen 
represents  a  further  satisfaction.  The  human  en- 
vironment is  of  larger  significance  and  gives  larger 
joy  than  any  environment  of  nature.  (3)  The 
opportunity  of  meeting  the  best  people  on  their  best 

i  William  L.  Kingsley,  "Yale  College,"  p.  146. 
78 


The  College  President 

side  is  of  special  value.  The  people  who  send  their 
sons  and  daughters  to  college  are,  on  the  whole, 
the  best  people.  They  never  show  their  best  side 
better  than  when  they  are  talking  with  a  college 
President  about  the  education  of  their  children. 
The  President  is  also  called  upon  to  associate  with 
teachers  of  all  grades  and  from  many  parts  of  the 
country,  and  the  teachers  of  the  United  States  are 
among  the  best  people.  (4)  A  fourth  satisfaction  is 
found  in  doing  a  work  that  unites  the  executive  and 
the  scholastic,  the  practical  and  the  theoretical  ele- 
ments. Executive  work  tends  to  impoverish  schol- 
arly ability.  Scholastic  work  tends  to  remove  one 
from  humanity.  The  union  of  the  two  types  tends 
to  keep  one  in  touch  with  the  great  human  work  of  a 
very  human  world,  and  also  tends  to  give  intellec- 
tual enrichment.  If  the  college  President  is  a  mere 
executive,  he  becomes  intellectually  thin.  If  the 
college  President  is  a  mere  scholastic,  he  becomes 
musty  and  dry.  The  college  President  who  is,  as 
are  most  .college  presidents,  at  once  an  executive 
and  somewhat  of  a  scholar,  is  doing  the  most  de- 
lightful work  that  can  be  done.  (5)  Another  sat- 
isfaction in  being  a  college  President  consists  in 
the  opportunity  of  transmitting  wealth  into  char- 
acter. Wealth  does  not  constitute  a  college,  but 
no  college  can  be  constituted  without  wealth. 
"Wealth  is  the  embodiment  of  the  power  necessary 
for  making  a  college.  The  college  President  is  the 
avenue  through  which  wealth  flows  into  the  con- 
stitution and  organization  of  the  college.  Wealth 
may  be  transmuted  into  truth,  into  righteousness, 

79 


The  College  President 

into  beauty,  into  joy,  into  human  character.  In 
this  process  of  the  transmutation  of  the  lower  value 
into  the  higher,  the  college  President  bears  a  nec- 
essary part.  (6)  Another  element  in  the  satis- 
faction lies  in  the  opportunity  of  associating  one's 
life  and  work  with  a  lasting  institution,  the  Amer- 
ican college.  Individuals  die  and  are  forgotten. 
Institutions  live.  The  college  President  who  puts 
his  life  into  a  college  is  sure  of  an  earthly  immor- 
tality. Colleges  are  seldom  named  after  their  pres- 
idents, but  presidents  always  live  in  their  colleges, 
and  not  a  few  colleges  cannot  live  the  worthiest 
life  without  worthy  presidents.  Not  to  mention 
the  living,  one  can  say  that  Woolsey's  twenty-five 
years  at  Yale  are  to  live  for  centuries  in  the  univer- 
sity at  New  Haven,  and  also  that  McCosh's  life  at 
Princeton  is  to  live  so  long  as  Princeton  lives.  (7) 
The  last  satisfaction  of  being  a  college  President 
lies  in  doing  somewhat  for  the  nation  and  for  the 
world  through  giving  inspiration,  training,  and 
equipment  to  American  youth.  The  value  of  the 
American  college  to  the  American  youth  lies  in 
some  six  elements:  the  discipline  of  the  regular 
studies,  the  inspiration  of  friendships,  the  enrich- 
ment of  general  reading,  the  culture  derived  from 
association  with  scholars,  private  reading,  and  lit- 
erary societies.  The  most  important  of  these  ele- 
ments is  the  inspiration  which  is  derived  from 
association  with  men  of  culture ;  and  the  college 
President  ought  to  be  the  chief  of  all  these  personal 
influences  touching  the  character  of  the  students. 
He  lives  in  the  lives  of  his  students  so  long  as  they 

80 


The  College  President 


-<> 


live,  and  he  lives  also  in  the  lives  of  other  men  so 
long  as  the  lives  of  his  students  touch  the  lives  of 
other  men. 

These  seven  opportunities  represent  the  mighty 
satisfactions  which  the  college  President  enjoys. 
They  help  to  constitute  his  work  as  one  of  the  most 
interesting  and  happiest  works  which  it  is  given 
to  any  man  to  do. 


81 


IV 

SPECIAL   CONDITIONS   AND   METHODS 
OF  ADMINISTRATION 


IV 

SPECIAL   CONDITIONS    AND    METHODS 
OF    ADMINISTRATION 

THERE  are  certain  conditions  and  methods  in 
the  administration  of  a  college  to  which  spe- 
cial attention  should  be  called. 

A  sense  of  unity  should  prevail  in  the  college. 
Every  one  who  helps  to  constitute  the  college 
family  should  feel  that  he  is  joined  to  everybody 
else  of  the  same  body.  Trustees  and  Faculty  and 
students  represent  a  common  brotherhood.  What- 
ever concerns  one  concerns  all.  If  one  member 
rejoice,  all  the  other  members  rejoice  with  him; 
and  if  one  member  suffer,  all  the  others  suffer 
with  him.  The  college  is  a  unit.  If  the  students 
have  their  sports,— and  they  ought  to  have  them, 
—the  Faculty  should  show  their  appreciation  and 
should  give  their  help  in  every  possible  form  of 
support.  If  a  student  win  a  prize  in  an  intercol- 
legiate contest,  the  Faculty,  as  well  as  the  student 
body,  should  be  made  glad.  If  a  graduate  take  a 
prize  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  a  poem, 
it  is  not  only  the  alumni  that  rejoice,  but  every 
student  and  every  professor.     The  college  execu- 

85 


Special  Conditions  and 

tive  should  be  alert  to  find  and  to  make  occasions 
through  which  the  sense  of  unity  may  be  promoted. 
He  should  seek  to  remove  all  occasions  of  antago- 
nism. It  is  to  be  said  that  in  this  respect  a  great 
change  has  occurred  in  the  American  college  in  the 
last  century.  The  college  officer  is  no  longer  an- 
tagonistic to  the  student  body,  nor  are  the  students 
antagonistic  to  the  college  officers.  The  college 
officer  desires  to  keep  in  closest  relationships  with 
the  students.  The  change  is  as  marked  as  the 
change  which  has  come  over  the  conception  of 
the  relations  of  the  church  to  what  is  called  the 
"world."  Bunyan's  Pilgrim  has  to  flee  from  the 
world,  abandoning  his  home,  his  wife,  and  his 
children  in  order  to  pursue  his  course  toward  the 
City  Celestial.  To-day  Bunyan's  Pilgrim  would 
not  leave  his  family  or  abandon  his  home  in  order 
to  pursue  his  course :  rather,  his  duty  would  be  to 
pursue  that  course  by  staying  in  his  home.  The 
churchman  of  to-day  is  in  closest  touch  with  all 
that  constitutes  modern  life.  The  college  Presi- 
dent of  to-day  is  in  closest  relationships  with  all 
that  constitutes  the  college  life  of  to-day. 

The  result  of  such  a  sense  of  unity  is  a  stronger 
and  happier  impression  of  the  college  on  the  com- 
munity. The  community  has  slight  respect  for  the 
college  whose  Faculty  and  students  and  Trustees 
are  given  to  bickerings  and  disagreements.  One 
of  the  most  conspicuous  universities  in  the  coun- 
try, situated  in  a  conspicuous  city,  has  the  slight- 
est influence  over  its  natural  constituency,  because 
the  professors   of  the  university  are   constantly 

86 


Methods  of  Administration 

quarreling  with  each  other,  and  because  they  as  a 
body  are  antagonistic  to  the  Trustees,  and  the 
Trustees  as  a  body  are  antagonistic  to  the  Faculty. 
A  solid  front  means  an  impressive  and  influential 
force.  A  divided  front  means  a  divided  interest  on 
the  part  of  the  community.  How  often  has  a  col- 
lege President  who  fails  to  receive  the  respect  of 
the  faculties  and  the  regard  of  the  students  pre- 
vented his  college  from  assuming  that  place 
which  it  ought  to  hold  in  the  esteem  of  the 
people ! 

A  sense  of  unity  leads  to  a  sense  of  loyalty,  and 
it  may  also  be  said  that  a  sense  of  loyalty  leads  to 
a  sense  of  unity.  Graduates  like  to  be  loyal  to 
their  alma  mater.  She  is  fair  and  beautiful  and 
lovely.  She  has  been  the  best  of  mothers  to  them. 
One  is  not  inclined  to  find  fault  with  that  alumnus 
who  allows  his  affection  for  the  college  to  set  aside 
his  reason  in  respect  to  its  worth.  The  mistake 
on  the  part  of  the  graduate  of  a  too  high  apprecia- 
tion of  the  scholarship  of  his  college  is  a  mistake 
of  which  it  is  not  difficult  to  approve.  The  student 
and  graduate  is  to  be  as  loyal  to  his  college  as 
he  is  to  his  home.  His  home  may  lack  elegance 
and  wealth,  but  it  is  his  home.  We  are  ashamed 
of  the  boy  who  prefers  the  other  boy's  home  with 
its  luxury  to  his  own  home  with  its  simplicity. 
We  are  no  less  ashamed  of  the  college  graduate  who 
thinks  more  of  the  other  man's  college  than  of  his 
own.  It  may,  indeed,  be  a  small  college,  or  poor, 
but  the  graduate  loves  it. 

One  method  of  securing  this  loyalty  represents 

87 


Special  Conditions  and 

a  good  in  itself,  and  also  is  the  means  of  a  further 
good     This  good  is  happiness. 

The  college  is  ever  to  seek  to  promote  the  hap- 
piness of  each  of  its  members.  No  teacher  can 
render  to  the  college  the  best  service  unless  he  be 
happy  in  that  service.  Outside  of  the  happiness 
which  results  from  good  personal  associations  and 
environment,  the  happiness  of  a  college  professor 
is  largely  promoted  through  his  having  good  tools, 
and  through  the  satisfaction  which  his  official  su- 
periors take  in  his  work.  Every  college  should 
furnish  each  teacher  with  all  the  tools  he  can  use. 
For  most  teachers  these  tools  consist  of  books. 
For  the  teachers  of  science  they  consist  of  well- 
equipped  laboratories  as  well  as  books.  The  col- 
lege teacher,  too,  is  not  so  unlike  most  workers  in 
every  form  of  human  society  that  he  is  hardened 
against  the  pleasure  which  appreciation  of  his  work 
should,  and  does,  give. 

The  happiness  of  the  teacher  in  a  college  is  op- 
posed by  difficulties  arising  from  several  sources. 
In  some  colleges  the  uncertainty  of  regular  or  full 
payment  of  salaries  is  so  great  that  grave  anxiety  is 
the  constant  companion  of  the  professor.  But  the 
anxiety  arising  from  this  cause  is  to  be  found  usually 
only  in  those  colleges  in  which  other  than  scholastic 
motives  prevail.  Some  denominational  colleges 
have  been  obliged  to  ask  their  professors  to  bear  bur- 
dens which  have  greatly  diminished  their  strength 
for  their  proper  college  work.  Other  colleges,  too, 
besides  the  denominational,— even  colleges  sup- 
ported by  the  State,— are  occasionally  obliged  to 

88 


Methods  of  Administration 

ask  their  professors  to  bear  burdens  of  financial 
suffering;  but  it  is  to  be  said  that  these  burdens 
are  usually  borne  with  the  calmness  of  a  scholar, 
even  if  not  always  with  the  patience  of  a  saint. 
Not  only  does  the  want  of  money  create  unhappi- 
ness  on  the  part  of  the  teachers,  but  also  a  lack  of 
frankness  on  the  part  of  the  college  executive. 
Many  a  college  professor  is  left  in  ignorance  of 
affairs  which  are  vitally  associated  with  himself 
and  with  his  family.  The  tenure  of  office  as  well 
as  the  amount  of  income  represent  two  most  im- 
portant elements  in  determining  this  happiness. 
Very  grave  injustice  is  often  done  to  a  college 
teacher  by  telling  him  at  the  very  close  of  an 
academic  year  that  his  services  will  not  be  required 
at  the  beginning  of  the  next  year.  Every  cause  of 
uncertainty  should  be  at  once  removed  by  the  one 
who  is  acquainted  with  the  conditions,  and  who  is 
strong  enough  to  tell  the  truth,  the  whole  truth, 
and  nothing  but  the  truth. 

The  happiness  of  the  students  is  an  element  quite 
as  important  as  the  happiness  of  the  teachers  of 
the  college ;  for  students  cannot,  anymore  than  their 
professors,  do  the  best  work  in  a  state  of  mental 
indifference  or  sullenness,  or  in  an  emotional  an- 
archy of  dissatisfaction,  of  which  unhappiness  is 
at  once  the  cause  and  the  result.  The  most  im- 
portant element  in  producing  happiness  among 
the  students  of  a  college  is  a  wholesome  atmos- 
phere of  humanity.  A  wholesome  atmosphere  of 
humanity  signifies  that  college  students  are  to  be 
treated  as  other  men,  and  neither  as  young  boys 

89 


Special  Conditions  and 

nor  as  animals;  that  they  are  to  be  honored  and 
respected,  and  that  the  honor  and  respect  that  are 
demanded  from  them  are  to  be  paid  to  them.  In 
this  atmosphere  justice  without  severity,  kindness 
without  weakness,  firmness  without  wilfulness, 
appreciation  without  adulation,  exactness  of  de- 
mands without  nagging,  strictness  in  enforcing 
college  rules  and  obedience  to  principle  without 
obstinacy,  and  sympathy  without  softness,  should 
prevail.  All  personal  kindnesses  shown  to  stu- 
dents by  professors  or  their  families,  especially  to 
the  boys  and  girls  away  from  home,  are  valuable 
in  most  colleges ;  but  no  favors  of  this  sort  are  for 
a  moment  to  be  spoken  of  in  comparison  with  the 
worth  of  a  large  sense  of  humanity. 

In  the  work  of  a  college  the  principle  of  freedom 
is  of  supreme  importance.  As  ethical  interpreters 
of  liberal  learning  in  a  democratic  country,  teachers 
and  students  are  alike  exceedingly  sensitive  in  re- 
spect to  any  limitation  of  their  right  to  hold  and 
to  express  such  opinions  as  they  see  fit  to  hold 
and  to  express. 

The  question  of  academic  freedom  may  be  seen 
from  two  or  three  points  of  view.  One  point  of 
view  relates  to  that  occupied  by  the  college  Presi- 
dent or  professor ;  one  point  of  view  to  that  occu- 
pied by  the  Trustee ;  and  one  point  of  view  may 
be  said  to  be  that  which  is  held  by  those  who 
have  at  heart  the  highest  interests  of  a  progressive 
civilization. 

The  question  of  academic  freedom  as  considered 
by  the  college  President  or  professor  has  several 

90 


Methods  of  Administration 

relations.  The  general  principle  of  freedom  be- 
longing to  him  as  a  man  is  clear.  He  should,  and 
usually  is,  free  to  hold  and  to  express  such  opin- 
ions as  he  sees  fit,  only  provided  lie  does  not  op- 
pose the  laws  of  public  decency  and  of  personal 
morals.  As  a  college  officer,  however,  the  ques- 
tion whether  he  is  as  free  as  he  is  as  a  man  is  a 
question  which  depends  largely  upon  the  atmos- 
phere and  the  conditions  of  the  college  itself.  A 
college  professor  who  was  subject  to  much  criticism 
for  holding  and  expressing  views  which  were  in 
opposition  to  those  of  the  college  he  served,  said 
on  voluntarily  retiring  from  his  chair:  "Not  for 
a  moment  will  I  allow  myself  to  be  thought  of  as 
a  martyr  to  the  cause  of  free  teaching.  I  shall  de- 
fend the  constituency  and  Trustees  of College 

in  their  right  to  choose  what  they  shall  have 
taught."  A  college  professor  may,  for  instance, 
hold  certain  political  or  civil  opinions.  He  may 
believe  that  these  opinions  should  be  expressed. 
One  of  the  motives  urging  him  to  this  expression 
may  be  that  the  expression  would  tend  to  in- 
crease the  number  of  persons  holding  these  same 
opinions  and  therefore  enhance  the  welfare  of  the 
people.  He  may,  however,  hold  certain  opinions, 
and  yet  believe  that  the  conditions  in  which  he  is 
placed  are  such  that  great  harm,  rather  than  good, 
would  be  produced  by  their  expression.  He  there- 
fore justifies  himself  in  silence.  One  of  the*  most 
distinguished  teachers  in  America  wrote  to  a 
former  student,  who  was  placed  in  a  college  in 
which  he  could   easily  have  opposed   the   ruling 

9i 


Special  Conditions  and 

ideas,  saying:  "The  predictions  that  you  would 
come  into  a  state  of  loggerheads  with  your  col- 
leagues are  not  verified.  You  have  pursued  a  very 
wise  course  in  avoiding  contention  with  them. 
Even  if  you  were  right  and  they  were  wrong,  you 
would  be  at  a  great  disadvantage  in  contending 
with  them;  for  you  are  younger  than  they,  and 
they  have  a  large  body  of  alumni  who  are  united 
in  their  favor.  So  the  wise  way  is  for  the  younger 
man  to  yield."  A  professor  of  metaphysics,  teach- 
ing in  a  Southern  college  in  the  year  1853,  believed 
in  the  immediate  emancipation  of  the  slaves.  His 
belief  he  expressed,  and  he  was  at  once  compelled 
to  tender  his  resignation.  Another  professor  who 
also  believed  in  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves 
withheld  the  expression  of  his  opinion,  and  retained 
his  chair.  Which  method— the  method  of  expres- 
sion or  of  silence — a  teacher  shall  employ,  he  must 
himself  determine.  But  it  is  ever,  and  most 
strongly,  to  be  said  that  a  college  professor  is  not 
justified  in  using  his  professorship  as  a  sounding- 
board  for  spreading  abroad  his  opinions  when  they 
are  in  opposition  to  those  held  by  the  persons  who 
established  and  maintain  his  professorship.  In 
fact,  it  is  the  veriest  commonplace  to  say  that  such 
expression  is  in  contradiction  to  the  laws  of  good 
breeding.  In  fact,  academic  freedom  is  more  often 
a  question  of  good  breeding  than  it  is  of  liberty. 
Every  college  professor  is  to  be  absolutely  free  to 
hold  and  to  express  whatever  opinions  he  chooses, 
so  long  as  he  maintains  the  character  of  a  noble 
man  and  the  manners  of  a  gentleman. 

92 


Methods  of  Administration 

The  question  of  academic  freedom  as  seen  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  college  Trustee  is  also  one 
of  grave  importance.  The  large  principle  is  that 
the  college  represents  a  condition  for  free  discus- 
sion. It  is  the  one  place  where  truth  may  be  ex- 
pressed—or what  one  holds  to  be  the  truth— with- 
out fear  or  favor.  No  fear  is  to  be  entertained  for 
the  truth ;  the  only  fear  is  for  error.  For  error  is 
sure  to  fall.  The  principle  that  Milton  laid  down 
in  his  "  Areopagitica  "  is  still  sound :  The  right  of 
freedom  and  of  liberty  is  a  right  now  universally 
conceded.  The  best  method  of  suppressing  error 
is  not  by  suppression,  but  by  discussion.  Educa- 
tional and  religious  heresies,  as  well  as  political,  are 
not  put  down  by  restraint,  but  by  expression  and 
discussion.  Such  is  the  broad  view,  and  yet  a 
Trustee  may  not  be  content  with  it ;  he  may  be 
inclined  to  adopt  a  narrow  interpretation.  He 
may  say  that  the  political  or  sociological  views  of 
a  professor  are  not  popular.  The  community  is  in 
favor  of  protection,  and  the  views  of  the  professor 
favor  free  trade.  The  community  is  individualis- 
tic, and  the  professor  is  socialistic,  and  is  interested 
in  the  significance  of  socialistic  phenomena.  The 
community  is  prohibitory  in  its  temperance  or 
other  sumptuary  laws,  and  the  professor  favors 
license.  Such  lack  of  adjustment  the  Trustee  feels 
will  result  in  loss  of  students  and  a  consequent 
loss  of  revenue.  In  other  words,  the  Trustee  be- 
lieves that  the  college  should  follow  the  behests  of 
the  community,  and  that  each  professor  should 
believe  in  all  respects  as  the  community  of  which 

93 


Special  Conditions  and 

the  college  is  a  part  believes.  Under  this  condi- 
tion the  Regents  or  Trustees  of  certain  State  in- 
stitutions have  removed  professors  and  have 
elected  professors.  As  said  a  Republican  journal, 
at  the  time  of  the  discussion  of  the  resignation  of 
President  Andrews  from  Brown  University :  "  The 
theoretical  rights  of  an  individual  are  always  sub- 
ject to  restriction  when  they  come  into  conflict 
with  the  rights  or  the  interests  of  others.  In  other 
words,  the  individual  has  rights,  but  he  also  has 
responsibilities.  In  the  case  of  a  college  President 
these  responsibilities  are  very  serious.  A  college 
President  has  the  right  to  think  and  say  what  he 
pleases  ?  Yes ;  but  he  has  no  right  to  promulgate 
views  of  such  a  character  as  to  react  against  the 
college  of  which  he  is  in  charge.  The  free-silver 
question  is  both  a  moral  and  a  political  issue. 
Most  of  the  men  who  send  their  sons  to  Brown 
University,  or  give  money  to  endow  professor- 
ships or  scholarships  there,  probably  have  views 
which  are  directly  opposed  to  those  of  President 
Andrews.  When  their  feelings  in  this  matter  be- 
came apparent,  it  seems  to  us  that  the  choice 
between  an  active  political  propaganda  and  the 
interests  of  the  university  ought  not  to  have  been 
a  difficult  one."  Such  is  the  narrow  view  of  the 
condition  as  interpreted  by  the  college  Trustee. 

The  question  of  academic  freedom  as  seen  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  interests  of  the  highest 
civilization  lends  itself  to  easy  discussion.  The 
demands  of  the  highest  interests  of  civilization  re- 
quire the  utmost  freedom  of  debate.    Humanity 

94 


Methods  of  Administration 

makes  progress  through  liberty,  not  through  re- 
pression. Even  though  one  college  should  suffer 
for  a  time  through  open  discussion,  the  gain  to 
humanity  is  great.  It  is  reported  that  Bishop 
McGee  once  said  that  it  would  be  better  for  every 
man  in  England  to  go  home  drunk  of  a  night 
than  for  any  man  to  be  denied  the  right  of  going 
home  drunk.  It  is  likewise  better  for  every  college 
to  hold  and  to  teach  error  than  for  any  college  to 
have  the  right  to  hold  and  teach  what  it  sees  fit 
taken  away.  For  the  college,  as  for  the  individual, 
liberty  is  the  only  worthy  condition.  The  college, 
like  the  individual,  should  be  trusted. 

That  academic  freedom  is  not  so  thoroughly 
installed  in  American  institutions  and  instilled  in 
the  educational  judgments  of  the  American  people 
as  it  ought  to  be,  is  painfully  evident.  Formerly 
the  teaching  of  the  sciences  represented  the  field 
where  limitations  were  imposed.  It  was  not  long 
ago  that  in  many  a  college  or  seminary  of  theology 
a  teacher  who  taught  evolution  would  be  the  ob- 
ject of  suspicion,  and  might  become  the  object  of 
removal.  At  the  present  time  the  teaching  of  cer- 
tain economic  theories  would  open  a  professor  to 
the  charge  of  insubordination.  No  teacher  is  to 
teach  the  false,  of  course,  but  each  is  to  be  allowed 
to  discuss  such  questions  as  bimetallism  or  social- 
ism, protection  or  free  trade,  without  suffering. 
Professor  Foxwell  of  St.  John's  College,  Cam- 
bridge, England,  writes  to  a  friend  in  America : 

It  is  difficult  for  us  to  understand  the  situation  in  the 
United  States  with  regard  to  university  professors.     Our 

95 


Special  Conditions  and 

people  cannot  understand  why  you  can  sit  down  quietly 
under  this  poisoning  of  the  springs  of  national  life. 
There  is  no  heritage  we  prize  more  highly  or  guard  more 
jealously  than  English  freedom  of  thought  and  speech. 
We  tolerate  at  our  universities  any  caprice,  any  eccen- 
tricity, even  some  degree  of  incompetency,  rather  than 
to  tamper  with  the  liberty  of  professors.  They  are,  in 
fact,  absolutely  independent.  Like  our  judges,  they  hold 
their  chairs  for  life  and  good  conduct.  In  Cambridge  we 
do  not  recognize  any  institution  as  a  college  unless  it 
has  an  independent  foundation  and  all  teachers  are 
elected  by  their  colleagues  or  other  experts.  No  Trustees 
intervene.  But  even  if  they  did  intervene,  English  public 
opinion  would  never  tolerate  any  restraint  on  teaching 
other  than  that  involved  in  the  preliminary  inquiry  as  to 
the  competency  of  the  teacher. 

A  large  policy  should  dictate.  Let  the  best 
President  or  professor  be  chosen,  and  then  let  him 
be  trusted.  He  is  neither  a  fool  nor  a  boor.  He 
will  not  deal  with  the  large  vested  and  personal 
interests  of  the  college  with  rashness.  He  will  re- 
spect the  opinions  of  his  associates,  and  honor  the 
rights  of  his  official  superiors  or  inferiors  or  peers. 
Let  him  be  a  gentleman,  and  then  let  him  have  full 
freedom.  If  a  teacher  be  not  a  gentleman,  he  is 
not  worthy  of  a  college  position. 

Another  element  of  importance  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  a  college  relates  to  the  differences  be- 
tween a  college  and  a  university.  Historically 
this  difference  has  never  been  clearly  differen- 
tiated. There  are  colleges  which  have  done  and  are 
doing  the  work  of  universities,  and  there  are  uni- 
versities which  have  only  done  the  work  of  col- 

96 


Methods  of  Administration 

leges,  and   some  have  even   been   obliged  to  be 
content  with  doing  the  work  of  the  high  school. 

There  are  two  essential  elements  of  differentia- 
tion between  the  college  and  the  university.  One 
element  relates  to  organization,  and  the  other  to 
the  purposes  and  work  of  the  institution.  (1)  A 
university  should  represent  more  than  one  depart- 
ment of  study.  An  undergraduate  college  should 
not  be  called  a  university.  An  undergraduate 
college  with  even  one  professional  school  might 
be  called  a  university,  but  the  name  should  be 
limited  only  to  those  institutions  which  give  in- 
struction both  of  undergraduate  and  of  graduate 
character.  (2)  In  respect  to  the  purposes  and 
work  of  the  institution,  the  differentiation  is  also 
clear  in  general,  although  absolutely  less  distinct. 
The  college  is  primarily  set  to  form  the  character 
of  undergraduates.  The  university  has  for  its 
primary  purpose  the  increase  of  knowledge  or  the 
giving  of  special  professional  training.  These  two 
conditions  run  somewhat  into  each  other.  For  the 
college  which  has  for  its  primary  purpose  the  for- 
mation of  character  may  have  for  a  secondary 
purpose  the  enrichment  of  the  field  of  knowledge, 
and  may  also  give  a  professional  education.  The 
university,  too,  which  has  for  its  first  purpose 
the  increase  of  knowledge,  the  enlargement  of 
the  domain  of  science,  may  have  for  its  second 
purpose  the  enhancement  and  enrichment  of  char- 
acter. And  yet,  these  two  purposes  it  is  easy  to 
differentiate  when  they  are  embodied  in  the  Under- 
graduate College  and  the  Graduate  School.     The 

7 

97 


Special  Conditions  and 

Undergraduate  College  is  concerned  primarily  with 
the  training  of  character.  Its  purpose  is  to  make 
men.  The  Graduate  School  is  concerned  primarily 
with  the  training  of  the  intellect.  Its  primary 
purpose  is  to  make  teachers.  The  Undergraduate 
College  uses  personality  as  its  chief  instrument  or 
condition.  The  Graduate  School  uses  scholarship 
as  its  chief  tool.  The  Undergraduate  College  takes 
into  view  primarily  ethical  conditions,  the  Gradu- 
ate School  intellectual  conditions.  The  Under- 
graduate College  is  concerned  with  enriching 
American  life  through  sending  forth  into  it  each 
year  a  body  of  noble  men  who  are  also  trained 
thinkers.  The  Graduate  School  is  primarily  con- 
cerned with  training  leaders  who  in  their  profes- 
sional career,  and  especially  in  teaching,  shall  give 
to  American  society  the  highest  intellectual  and 
ethical  results.  The  difference  is  fittingly  indi- 
cated by  Dean  Briggs  of  Harvard  College  in  his 
annual  report  for  the  academic  year  1896-97. 
Professor  Briggs   says: 

Men  talk  sometimes  as  if  the  Graduate  School  were 
destined,  and  happily  destined,  to  overshadow  Harvard 
College ;  for  men  have  seen  that  it  is  the  Graduate 
School,  and  not  the  College,  to  which  they  must  look  for 
the  advancement  of  learning.  The  College  guides  youth 
to  manhood;  the  Graduate  School  guides  manhood  to 
scholarship.  Yet  the  very  fact  that  the  Graduate  School 
is  free  to  think  first  of  learning,  and  the  College  bound  to 
think  first  of  character,  gives  the  College  a  larger  and  a 
higher  responsibility.  The  College  has,  and  must  ever 
have,  the  wider  range  of  human  sympathy.     It  cannot 

98 


Methods  of  Administration 

take  a  lower  place  than  the  Graduate  School  till  the  de- 
velopment of  the  scholar  becomes  nobler  and  more  abid- 
ing than  the  education  of  a  man. 

Another  special  element  in  the  administration  of 
a  college  is  found  in  the  place  and  the  work  of 
various  clubs  and  societies,  and  especially  of  what 
is  commonly  known  as  the  fraternity. 

Undergraduate  life  is  becoming  highly  organ- 
ized. Every  college  has  clubs  and  societies  of 
many  and  diverse  sorts.  A  professor  in  Yale 
College  says: 

The  number  of  clubs  and  organizations  of  all  kinds 
listed  in  a  modern  Banner  is  something  wonderful :  glee 
clubs,  chess  clubs,  rifle  clubs,  whist  clubs,  yacht  clubs, 
Yale  orchestras,  Yale  unions,  university  clubs,  track  ath- 
letic associations,  banjo  clubs,  tennis  clubs,  Andover 
clubs,  Ohio  clubs,  Berkeley  societies,  etc. — most  of  them 
all  undreamed  of  in  the  simple  structure  of  undergraduate 
life  in  the  sixties.1 

In  Harvard  College  are  half  a  hundred  organi- 
zations. These  organizations  are  literary,  dramatic, 
forensic,  political,  musical,  religious,  artistic,  ath- 
letic, and  geographical.  The  names  of  some  of 
them  are  possibly  suggestive :  Civil-Service  Reform 
Club,  the  Catholic  Club,  the  Folk-lore  Club,  the 
Pen  and  Brush  Club,  and  the  Revolver  Club. 

But  more  important  than  all  clubs  of  all  kinds 
put  together  in  the  American  college  is  the  organi- 
zation known  as  the  fraternity. 

The  fraternity  is  largely  a  product  of  the  present 

i  H.  A.  Beers,  "Ways  of  Yale,"  pp.  10,  11. 

99 


Special  Conditions  and 

century.  Phi  Beta  Kappa  was  founded  in  the  last 
century,  but  two  score  important  fraternities  that 
are  now  in  existence  have  all  had  their  beginning 
since  1825,  when  Kappa  Alpha  was  established  in 
Union  College.  Certain  of  these  fraternities  are 
national  in  their  relationship,  of  which  at  least  five 
are  prominent — Alpha  Delta  Phi,  Beta  Theta  Pi, 
Phi  Delta  Theta,  Phi  Gamma  Delta,  and  Delta 
Kappa  Epsilon.  There  are  other  fraternities  which 
are  also  conspicuous.  Among  them,  in  the  Eastern 
group,  are  Delta  Phi,  Theta  Delta  Chi,  Sigma  Phi, 
Psi  Upsilon,  Kappa  Alpha,  and  Delta  Psi.  The 
Southern  group  includes  Kappa  Alpha  (Southern 
order),  Alpha  Tau  Omega,  Sigma  Alpha  Epsilon, 
and  Kappa  Sigma.  There  are  also  fraternities  that 
have  special  relations  to  Western  colleges.  Each 
of  these  societies  is  more  or  less  intercollegiate. 
The  number  of  chapters  belonging  to  each  frater- 
nity varies  from  a  few  to  two  score  or  more.  The 
number  of  chapters  belonging  to  the  general  fra- 
ternities, and  also  to  the  fraternities  that  are  local, 
is  in  round  numbers  about  eight  hundred,  and  the 
entire  membership,  both  among  graduates  and 
undergraduates,  approaches  a  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand. 

The  government  of  these  organizations  is  like 
the  United  States  government — a  combination  of 
local  independence  and  of  intercollegiate  relation- 
ship. In  local  and  minor  affairs  each  chapter  con- 
trols itself,  but  in  all  important  undertakings  the 
associated  chapters  act.  These  associated  chap- 
ters usually  meet  once  a  year  in  a  convention 

ioo 


Methods  of  Administration 

covering  several  days,  at  which  such  legislation  is 
made  as  may  seem  necessary  for  the  welfare  of  the 
whole  society  and  of  each  individual  chapter 
thereof. 

These  chapters,  scattered  throughout  the  col- 
leges, are  lodged  in  houses  which  bear  the  names 
of  the  fraternity.  These  houses  are  seldom  situ- 
ated on  the  college  campus,  but  are  usually,  though 
not  always,  near  that  campus.  Reasons  of  con- 
venience prevail  in  the  choice  of  location.  In  most 
cases  these  houses  are  rented  for  a  specific  time, 
but  in  an  increasing  number  of  colleges  the  frater- 
nities are  owniug  their  houses.  Some  of  these 
houses  are  large,  elaborate,  and  costly.  In  others, 
and  more,  the  houses  are  simple  and  inexpensive. 
The  value  of  the  fraternity  houses  at  Amherst  and 
at  Cornell  is  larger  than  the  endowment  of  the 
ordinary  American  college. 

The  principle  on  which  these  fraternities  are 
based  is  the  twin  principle  of  gregariousness  and 
of  similarity.  Human  beings  of  similar  tastes  and 
relations  like  to  associate  themselves  together. 
Grood-fellowship  in  the  college,  as  in  all  life,  is 
of  exceeding  importance.  College  life  naturally 
brings  men  into  close  companionship.  The  same 
environment  exists  for  all ;  the  same  teachers  teach 
all;  the  same  age  obtains  among  all;  the  same 
democracy  of  life  surrounds  all;  the  same  pur- 
poses animate  all ;  the  same  interests  interest  all. 
The  college  has  ceased  to  be  a  monastery  and 
has  become  a  community.  But,  despite  these  gen- 
eral elements  of  identity,  there  exist  differences 

101 


Special  Conditions  and 

arising  from  a  community  composed  of  individ- 
uals. These  individuals,  who  form  the  whole  com- 
munity, easily  and  naturally  unite  to  form  other 
communities  within  the  large  whole.  These  lesser 
communities  may  unite  on  the  basis  of  literary 
likings,  of  athletic  abilities,  of  scholastic  relation- 
ships, of  simple  social  adjustments.  But  the  general 
basis  of  association  is  the  basis  of  good-fellowship, 
and  on  this  basis  men  get  together  in  what  is  called 
the  fraternity. 

Be  it  said  that  good-fellowship  is  a  more  impor- 
tant element  in  the  college  than  most  students, 
especially  those  who  are  devoted  to  their  regular 
studies,  appreciate.  For  good-fellowship  repre- 
sents personality,  and  personality  is  more  impor- 
tant than  any  other  element  of  life,  either  within 
or  without  college  walls.  It  is  told  of  Von  Ranke 
that,  at  a  great  celebration  held  in  his  honor,  he 
declared  he  prized  more  the  commendation  of 
being  a  good  fellow  than  he  prized  the  commenda- 
tion of  being  a  great  student,  an  eminent  historian, 
or  a  noble  teacher.  And  when  with  good-fellow- 
ship is  combined  a  high  intellectual  force  prevailing 
among  the  various  members  of  the  college  or  soci- 
ety, the  result  is  of  the  greatest  worth.  It  was  the 
association  of  Spedding,  Milnes  (Lord  Houghton), 
Merivale,  Arthur  Hallam,  and  Tennyson  which 
probably  did  more  for  each  of  the  band  of  the 
"  Apostles  "  at  Cambridge  than  any  other  element 
of  their  university  or  college  life. 

The  fraternity  in  the  American  college,  founded 
on  this  basis  of  good-fellowship,  is  of  the  highest 

1 02 


Methods  of  Administration 

worth  in  promoting  friendships.  In  college,  as  ont, 
friendship  is  the  best  thing  to  be  given  or  received. 
Men  living  in  the  close  fellowship  of  the  fraternity 
are  frequently  friends  before  they  go  into  this 
fellowship,  and  the  fellowship  deepens  the  friend- 
ship, out  of  which  the  fraternity  itself  grows.  It 
is  probable  that  the  students  in  college  form  more 
friendships  in  the  four  years  than  they  have  formed 
before  entering  college  or  than  they  will  form  after 
leaving  college.  And  these  friendships,  too,  are  of 
the  most  intimate  sort.  Men  in  college  get  much 
closer  to  one  another  than  those  living  in  any  other 
condition. 

The  intimacy  of  relationships  prevailing  in  the 
fraternity  is  of  special  worth  in  forming  a  just  and 
strong  character.  Personality  is  more  important 
than  the  curriculum ;  and  the  personality  manifest 
in  the  fraternity  house  is  quite  as  important  as  the 
personality  manifest  in  the  class-room.  Through 
this  method  of  intimate  relationships  all  the  ele- 
ments that  make  up  a  rich  and  fine  character  may 
become  richer  and  finer.  Faults  are  corrected; 
manners  are  cultivated;  tastes  are  improved;  the 
influence  of  the  wiser  over  the  less  wise  is  strong ; 
the  young  lend  themselves  with  ease  to  the  guid- 
ance of  the  older ;  and  the  older  behave  in  gracious 
helpfulness  toward  the  less  mature.  All  the  ele- 
ments that  make  up  manhood  may  be  enlarged 
through  the  life  of  the  fraternity. 

The  relation  which  the  fraternity  holds  to  the 
graduates  of  the  college  is  of  great  importance. 
For  the  graduate  finds  that  the  college  generation 

103 


Special  Conditions  and 

is  pretty  short,  and  often  after  a  year,  or  at  the 
most  two  years'  absence,  on  returning  he  finds  few 
men  whom  he  knew  or  who  knew  him  while  he 
was  still  an  undergraduate.  But  he  does  find  in 
his  fraternity  house  a  hearty  welcome,  and  from  the 
men  at  present  students  he  receives  the  most  cor- 
dial greeting.  The  ties  of  the  fraternity  are  far 
stronger  and  attach  him  more  closely  than  the 
ordinary  college  relationship.  The  fraternity 
serves  to  keep  him  in  touch  with  the  college 
more  than  the  college  serves  to  keep  him  in  touch 
with  the  fraternity. 

It  is  also  to  be  said  that  the  fraternity  becomes 
of  great  aid  to  the  Faculty  and  Trustees  in  pro- 
moting the  good  order  of  the  college.  President 
Seelye  of  Amherst  relied  much  on  the  help  of  fra- 
ternities in  his  administration.  In  his  annual  report 
to  the  Trustees  (1887)  he  says : : 

Besides  other  helps  toward  the  good  work  of  the  col- 
lege, important  service  is  rendered  by  the  societies  and 
the  society  houses.  No  one  now  familiar  with  the  college 
doubts,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  good  secured  through  the 
Greek  letter  societies  as  found  among  us.  They  are  cer- 
tainly well  managed.  Their  houses  are  well  kept,  and 
furnish  pleasant  and  not  expensive  houses  to  the  students 
occupying  them.  The  rivalry  among  them  is  wholesome, 
kept,  as  it  certainly  seems  to  be,  within  limits.  The  tone 
of  the  college  is  such  that  loose  ways  in  a  society  or  its 
members  will  be  a  reproach,  and  college  sentiment,  so 
long  as  it  is  reputable  itself,  will  keep  them  reputable. 

1  W.  S.  Tyler,  "A  History  of  Amherst  College,"  p.  264. 
104 


Methods  of  Administration 

The  closeness  of  the  relation  which  should  exist 
between  the  government  of  a  college  and  the  fra- 
ternity system  is  well  indicated  in  a  paragraph 
which  I  take  from  the  best  book  upon  American 
college  fraternities : l 

The  wiser  of  the  college  faculties  are  using  and  not 
abusing  the  fraternities.  They  find  that  the  chapters  are 
only  too  glad  to  assist  in  maintaining  order,  in  enlisting 
support  for  the  college,  in  securing  endowments,  and,  in 
fact,  in  doing  anything  to  increase  the  prosperity  of  the 
institutions  upon  which  their  own  existence  depends. 
When  such  officers  or  professors  have  occasion  to  disci- 
pline a  member  of  one  of  the  fraternities,  they  speak  to 
his  chapter  mates  quietly,  and  suggest  that  he  is  not 
doing  himself  credit,  or  is  reflecting  discredit  upon  the 
good  name  of  the  chapter.  It  is  surprising  how  soon 
boys  can  influence  each  other,  and  how  students  can 
force  reason  into  the  mind  of  an  angry  boy  where  faculty 
admonition  would  only  result  in  opposition  and  estrange- 
ment. The  members  of  a  good  chapter  all  try  to  excel, 
many  for  the  sake  of  their  chapter  where  they  would  not 
for  their  own.  Each  member  feels  that  upon  him  has 
fallen  no  little  burden  of  responsibility  to  keep  the  chap- 
ter up  to  a  standard  set,  perhaps,  by  men  since  grown 
famous.  College  faculties  sometimes  see  what  a  force 
they  have  here  at  hand,  and  what  a  salutary  discipline 
the  fraternities  can  exercise. 

The  fraternity  also  represents  an  important  tie 
uniting  the  colleges  of  our  country  to  one  another. 
The  ties  which  join  together  the  chapters  of  the 
same  fraternity  in  the  different  colleges  are  far 

1  Baird,  "American  College  Fraternities,"  p.  418. 
IO5 


Special  Conditions  and 

stronger  than  the  ties  which  unite  the  colleges 
themselves.  The  colleges  themselves  are  prone  to 
be,  although  now  less  prone  than  formerly,  in  the 
relationship  of  antagonistic  units.  Chapters  of 
fraternities  are  in  the  relation  of  cooperative  and 
unifying  elements.  They  also  serve  to  draw  to- 
gether the  members  themselves  into  personal  rela- 
tionship. In  this  way  they  serve,  though  in  a  far 
less  intimate  extent,  the  purposes  which  the  great 
organizations  such  as  the  Masons  or  the  Odd  Fel- 
lows represent. 

So  important  a  place  is  the  fraternity  coming  to 
occupy  that  it  has  been  suggested  they  may  in 
time  represent -a  method  of  organization  and  life 
not  unlike  that  which  the  colleges  at  Oxford  and 
Cambridge  play  in  the  life  of  their  respective  uni- 
versities. That  time  is  certainly  far  off,  but  the 
tendency  is  very  strong  for  the  social  life  of  the 
colleges  to  segregate  and  to  divide  itself  into  fra- 
ternal organizations.  Already  college  tutors  are 
living  in  fraternity  houses,  and  libraries  for  the  spe- 
cial use  of  the  members  are  formed.  What  is  this 
but  a  significant  beginning  of  the  English  collegiate- 
university  system? 

"With  all  these  advantages  it  is  not  to  be  denied 
that  disadvantages  are  to  be  found.  These  disad- 
vantages lie  in  one  general  fault  in  promoting  a 
loyalty  to  only  a  part  of  the  college  interests,  and 
in  lessening  the  loyalty  to  all  those  elements  that 
go  to  constitute  the  college.  Often  the  fraternity 
must,  because  it  is  a  segregating  agency,  become 
also  a  dividing  one.     Fraternities  were  abolished 

1 06 


Methods  of  Administration 

at  Princeton  in  the  year  1855,  and  a  recent  gradu- 
ate of  that  college  says : 

The  result  is  a  freedom  from  those  cliques  and  jeal- 
ousies which  so  often  mar  the  peace  of  fraternity  colleges. 
When  Princeton  men  hear  of  wrangles  over  athletic 
captains,  or  read  of  Senior  classes  giving  up  Class  Day 
on  account  of  fraternity  feuds,  they  breathe  a  silent  Te 
Deum  for  their  own  immunity.  Fraternities  were  abol- 
ished in  1855,  and  now  the  undergraduates  would  not 
allow  them  to  return.  It  is  not  because  fraternities  are 
objectionable  in  themselves,  only  they  have  no  function 
here.  In  Cornell  they  aid  the  college  materially  by  pro- 
viding apartments  for  the  men.  In  metropolitan  colleges 
like  Columbia  they  furnish  a  basis  for  social  life ;  but 
here  we  have  our  college  rooms,  and  prefer  the  broad, 
fraternal  intercourse  of  dormitory  and  campus  to  the 
more  limited  friendship  of  the  chapter-house.  It  is  true 
we  have  our  social  clubs,  with  their  club-houses.  In  some 
respects  they  resemble  the  chapter-house,  but  only  in  a 
faint  degree.  The  secrecy  and  the  partizanship  of  the 
fraternity  is  wanting,  and  we  may  safely  trust  the  genius 
of  our  institutions  and  the  courtesy  and  public  spirit  of 
the  club-men  to  keep  them  from  making  any  fracture  in 
the  unity  of  class  or  college.1 

The  fraternity,  as  an  agent  of  social  life  and 
of  recreation  and  amusement,  helps  to  make  the 
contrast  between  the  life  of  the  modern  college 
student  and  the  life  of  the  university  student  of 
the  middle  ages  significant.  The  life  of  the  ideal 
student  of  the  middle  ages  was  a  life  of  few  com- 
forts.    It  was  essentially  a  monastic  life.     Amuse- 

1  G.  K.  Wallace,  "  Princeton  Sketches,"  p.  196. 
107 


Special  Conditions  and 

merits  were  largely  prohibited  in  the  feudal  society 
of  the  middle  ages.  The  military  class  predom- 
inated, and  tournaments,  hunting,  and  hawking 
were  the  popular  sports.  Such  amusements  were 
not  adapted  to  university  conditions.  The  chief 
amusement  of  the  student  of  the  middle  ages  seems 
to  have  been  in  the  frequent  interruption  of  his 
work  through  the  holidays  of  the  church  or  through 
festivals  of  patrons  who  had  some  relation  to  the 
college  of  which  he  was  a  member.  The  ideal 
student  led  a  monastic  life,  but  it  is  pretty  certain 
that  the  student  who  was  not  ideal,  but  who  was 
inclined  to  be  dissolute,  found  that  the  ascetic  life 
provoked  wildest  indulgences  whenever  occasion 
offered.  Lawlessness  and  ruffianism  of  the  severest 
sort  not  infrequently  prevailed.  The  maddest 
pranks  of  the  college  student  of  this  century 
in  the  United  States  are  very  pale  and  simple 
compared  with  some  of  the  ordinary  behaviors 
which  are  told  in  the  annals  of  the  University 
of  Paris. 

A  word  should  be  said  in  reference  to  the  oldest 
and  most  distinguished  of  all  the  fraternities,  which 
still  holds  a  unique  place  in  the  annals  and  life  of 
the  American  college.  The  Phi  Beta  Kappa  was 
the  first  society  bearing  the  symbolic  Greek  letters. 
It  was  founded  at  the  College  of  William  and  Mary 
in  1776.  Its  origin  is  more  or  less  in  doubt,  but 
through  more  than  a  hundred  years  it  has  held  a 
distinguished  and  honorable  place  among  college 
organizations  and  in  college  life.  It  is  now  coming 
to  stand  essentially  as  an  association  of  scholars. 

108 


Methods  of  Administration 

The  best  scholars  of  each  junior  and  senior  class 
in  a  college  in  which  a  chapter  is  organized  usually 
constitute  its  members.  It  stands  more  distinctly 
as  an  association  of  men  who  as  undergraduates 
have  manifested  scholarly  ability  than  any  other 
institution  in  the  life  of  the  century. 


109 


V 
THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  STUDENTS 


V 

THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  STUDENTS 

THE  history  of  the  government  of  the  students 
in  American  colleges  is  a  history  of  increas- 
ing liberality  and  orderliness.  The  government  of 
the  colonial  period  was  of  a  kind  like  the  civil 
government.  It  was  minute  in  its  inspection  of 
students,  and  severe  in  its  punishments.  It  was 
in  order  at  Harvard  College,  at  or  about  1674,  for 
the  President  or  the  Fellows  to  punish  recreant 
students  either  by  fine  or  by  whipping,  as  the 
nature  of  their  offenses  should  require.  Each 
case  was  to  be  represented,  in  case  of  a  pecuniary 
amount,  by  a  fine  not  to  exceed  ten  shillings,  or, 
if  corporal  punishment  were  the  penalty,  by  ten 
stripes.  This  whipping,  too,  was  to  be  done  openly. 
Judge  Sewall,  in  his  diary,  says  that  in  1674  a 
student  was  publicly  whipped  for  speaking  blas- 
phemous words.  In  addition  to  this  castigation  he 
was  suspended  from  taking  his  bachelor's  degree, 
and  suffered  also  certain  other  evil  consequences. 
The  execution  of  the  sentence  was  quite  as  char- 
acteristic as  its  nature.  The  sentence  was  read 
twice  publicly  in  the  library,  in  the  presence  of  all 
8  1 13 


The  Government  of  Students 

the  students  and  representatives  of  the  govern- 
ment. The  offender  knelt,  the  President  prayed, 
and  the  blows  were  laid  on.  The  services  were 
closed  with  another  prayer  by  the  President. 
Gradually  corporal  punishment  passed  out  of  use, 
but  it  was  near  the  beginning  of  the  last  century 
when  this  form  of  penalty  ceased.1 

The  offenses  against  college  laws  and  procedure 
were  of  various  sorts,  and  related  in  a  far  more 
intimate  degree  to  personal  character  and  behavior 
than  would  now  be  suffered.  In  the  first  third  of 
the  last  century  the  students  were  subjected  to  a 
close  inspection  by  their  tutors.  Tutors  are  di- 
rected to  see  that  the  students  retire  early  to  their 
chambers  on  Saturday  evening,  and  they  are  also 
commanded  to  quicken  the  diligence  of  the  stu- 
dents through  visiting  their  rooms  in  daytime  and 
in  study  hours  and  at  night  after  nine  o'clock. 
Special  mention  is  also  made  in  the  laws  of  the 
time  of  certain  habits  which  are  supposed  now 
not  to  demand  special  prohibition.  For  instance, 
mention  is  made  of  profane  swearing,  cursing,  tak- 
ing the  name  of  God  in  vain,  light  behavior,  play- 
ing or  sleeping  at  public  worship  or  at  prayers. 
Such  offenses  as  breaking  open  chambers,  studies, 
letters,  desks,  chests,  or  any  place  under  lock 
and  key,  or  having  picklocks,  are  specially  con- 
demned. Examples  of  the  infliction  of  punish- 
ment for  the  infraction  of  these  laws  abound. 
On  November  4,  1717,  three  scholars  of  Harvard 
College  were  publicly  admonished  for  chewing  to- 

1  Quincy,  "  History  of  Harvard  University,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  189,  513. 

114 


The  Government  of  Students 

bacco,  and  one  was  degraded  in  his  class  because  he 
had  •  been  publicly  admonished  for  card-playing. 
The  offense  of  some  others  was  the  not  uncommon 
one,  possibly,  among  college  students  of  that  time, 
of  stealing  poultry.  The  offenders  were  obliged 
to  stand  in  the  middle  of  the  hall,  in  the  presence 
of  their  associates.  The  crime  with  which  they 
were  charged  was  first  declared,  and  then  it  was 
explained  to  them  as  against  the  law  of  God  and 
of  the  commonwealth.  They  were  admonished  to 
consider  its  nature  and  tendency,  and  were  warned 
to  desist  from  the  continuance  of  their  practices. 
They  were  then  fined  and  ordered  to  restore  two- 
fold of  that  which  they  had  stolen. 

Throughout  this  period,  not  only  at  the  oldest, 
but  at  all  the  American  colleges,  down  even  to  the 
middle  of  the  present  century,  a  system  of  pecu- 
niary fines  represented  the  most  popular  method  of 
securing  good  order  among  college  students.  The 
list  of  these  fines,  together  with  their  amounts  and 
the  offenses  which  they  represent,  conveys  a  fairly 
good  conception  of  the  elements  that  went  to  make 
up  the  college  life  of  American  students  for  two 
hundred  years.     It  is  worth  while  to  copy  the  list, 

long  as  it  is : 1 

£  s.  d, 

Absence  from  prayers 002 

0   0   1 

0   0   4 

0   0   2 

0   3   0 

0   0   9 


Tardiness  at  prayers 

Absence  from  professor's  public  lecture 
Tardiness  at  professor's  public  lecture  . 
Profanation  of  Lord's  Day,  not  exceeding 
Absence  from  public  worship    .... 

1  Quincy,  "History  of  Harvard  University,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  499,  500 

115 


The  Government  of  Students 

£  s.  d. 

Tardiness  at  public  worship 0   0   3 

111  behavior  at  public  worship,  not  exceeding      .016 

Going  to  meeting  before  bell-ringing     ....  0   0   6 

Neglecting  to  repeat  the  sermon 0   0   9 

Irreverent  behavior  at  prayers  or  public  divinity 

lectures 016 

Absence  from  chambers,  etc.,  not  exceeding   ..006 

Not  declaiming,  not  exceeding 0   16 

Not  giving  up  a  declamation,  not  exceeding  ..016 

Absence  from  recitation,  not  exceeding      ...  0   1    6 

Neglecting  analysis,  not  exceeding 0   3   0 

Bachelors  neglecting  disputations,  not  exceeding  0  16 
Respondents  neglecting  disputations,  from  Is.  6d. 

to 0   3   0 

Undergraduates  out  of  town  without  leave,  not 

exceeding 026 

Undergraduates  tarrying  out  of   town  without 

leave,  not  exceeding  per  diem 0   13 

Undergraduates  tarrying  out  of  town  one  week 

without  leave,  not  exceeding 0  10  0 

Undergraduates  tarrying  out  of  town  one  month 

without  leave,  not  exceeding 2  10  0 

Lodging  strangers  without  leave,  not  exceeding  0   16 
Entertaining  persons  of  ill  character,  not  exceed- 
ing        016 

Going  out  of  college  without  proper  garb,  not 

exceeding 006 

Frequenting  taverns,  not  exceeding       ....  0   1   6 

Profane  cursing,  not  exceeding 0   2   6 

Graduates  playing  cards,  not  exceeding  ...  0  5  0 
Undergraduates  playing  cards,  not  exceeding  .026 
Undergraduates  playing  any  game  for  money, 

not  exceeding  . ..016 

Selling  and  exchanging  without  leave,  not  ex- 
ceeding      016 

n6 


The  Government  of  Students 

£  s.  a. 

Lying,  not  exceeding 016 

Opening  doors  by  picklocks,  not  exceeding     ..050 

Drunkenness,  not  exceeding 0    16 

Liquors  prohibited  under  penalty,  not  exceeding     0   16 

Second  offense,  not  exceeding 0   3   0 

Keeping  prohibited  liquors,  not  exceeding      ..016 

Sending  for  prohibited  liquors 0   0    6 

Fetching  prohibited  liquors 0   16 

Going  upon  the  top  of  the  college 0   16 

Cutting  off  the  lead 016 

Concealing  the  transgression  of  the  19th  law      .016 

Tumultuous  noises  ...  016 

Second  offense 030 

Refusing  to  give  evidence 0   3   0 

Rudeness  at  meals 010 

Butler  and  cook  to  keep  utensils  clean,  not  ex- 
ceeding     050 

Not  lodging  in  their  chambers,  not  exceeding     .016 

Sending  freshmen  in  study  time 0   0   9 

Keeping  guns  and  going  on  skating 0   10 

Firing  guns  or  pistols  in  college  yard    ....     0   2   6 
Fighting  or  hurting  any  person,  not  exceeding  .016 

But  Harvard  was  only  one  of  many  colleges  that 
adopted  this  system  for  a  time.  At  Amherst,  as 
late  as  the  administration  of  President  Humphrey, 
which  closed  in  1844,  an  elaborate  system  of  fines 
was  in  vogue.  Fines  were  imposed  for  the  offenses 
of  bathing  in  study  hours,  for  playing  on  a  musi- 
cal instrument,  for  firing  a  gun  in  or  near  the  col- 
lege buildings  or  grounds,  or  for  attending  any 
village  church  without  permission.  In  fact,  both 
in  Amherst  and  in  other  colleges,  fines  seem  to 
have  been  regarded  as  the  one  means  for  doing 

117 


The  Government  of  Students 

away  with  all  college  evils.  The  students  were 
not  the  only  sufferers,  for — at  Amherst,  at  least 
— any  member  of  the  Faculty  who  failed  each 
working-day  to  visit  the  rooms  which  were  as- 
signed to  him  for  his  parochial  visitations,  suffered 
a  mulct  of  fifty  cents.1 

It  does  not  become  us  to  criticize  rashly  the 
methods  or  condemn  the  principles  of  the  colleges 
of  a  hundred  or  two  hundred  years  ago.  The 
principles  upon  which  these  colleges  rested  were 
as  sound  as  the  principles  upon  which  these  same 
colleges  now  rest.  In  fact,  the  principles  have  re- 
mained substantially  unchanged,  and  it  is  possible 
that  the  methods  of  government  of  two  hundred 
years  ago  or  of  the  last  century  were  good  methods 
for  the  conditions  that  then  existed.  But  down  to 
very  recent  years,  it  must  be  confessed,  the  methods 
which  have  prevailed  in  the  government  of  stu- 
dents have  proved  to  be,  on  the  whole,  lamentable 
failures. 

In  the  history  of  the  government  of  American 
colleges  in  the  last  hundred  years,  what  are  known 
as  "  college  rebellions "  have  a  somewhat  conspic- 
uous place.  Although  the  college  rebellion  has 
now  largely  passed  away,  yet  for  a  century  it  has 
in  most  colleges,  at  certain  periods,  played  a  very 
significant  part.  The  college  student  usually  has 
a  pretty  keen  sense  of  what  we  may  call  "  natural 
rights."  He  also  has  a  pretty  keen  sense  of  what 
we  may  call  "  prescribed  rights."  What  belongs  to 
him  by  reason  of  his  being  a  human  being,  and 

i  Tyler,  "  History  of  Amherst  College,"  pp.  81,  82. 
118 


The  Government  of  Students 

what  belongs  to  him  by  reason  of  his  standing  in 
a  series  of  college  men  and  a  succession  of  college 
classes,  he  is  inclined  to  appreciate  at  its  full  value. 
Whatever  actions  of  the  Faculty  lessen  his  natural 
rights,  or  any  infringement  upon  what  his  pre- 
decessors were  supposed  to  have  enjoyed  in  pre- 
scription, he  is  inclined  to  resist.  It  is  also  to  be 
said  that  a  college  Faculty  does  not  appreciate  the 
natural  or  the  prescribed  rights  of  the  students  at 
the  same  value  that  the  students  appreciate  them. 
The  faculties  are  not  inclined  to  hold  the  honor  of 
the  students  so  high  or  to  feel  so  sensitive  as  the 
students  themselves.  Perhaps,  also,  faculties  can- 
not always  be  so  considerate  of  the  limitations  or 
demands,  either  wise  or  unwise,  of  the  great  body 
of  the  students  as  they  ought  to  be.  It  is  also  to 
be  recognized  that  students  usually  stand  together. 
If  any  one  of  their  number  is  treated  unjustly  by 
the  Faculty,  the  whole  body  of  the  students  is  in- 
clined to  rally  about  him,  and  to  give  him  aid  and 
comfort. 

Out  of  such  conditions  have  grown  college  re- 
bellions. Among  the  more  conspicuous  of  the 
college  rebellions  of  the  present  century  and  of 
the  last  years  of  the  last  century  are  the  Rebel- 
lions of  1768  and  of  1807  at  Harvard  College ;  the 
Rebellion  of  1808  at  Williams;  the  Bread  and 
Butter  Rebellion  of  1828  at  Yale,  and  the  Conic 
Sections  Rebellion  of  1830,  also  at  Yale ;  the  Re- 
bellion of  1836  at  the  University  of  Virginia ;  the 
Rebellions  of  1837,  of  1845,  and  of  1848,  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Alabama ;  and  the  Rebellion  of  1868  at 

119 


The  Government  of  Students 

Williams  College.  There  are,  of  course,  other  re- 
bellions in  other  colleges,  but  these  may  be  re- 
garded as  representative. 

In  the  year  1768  occurred  at  Harvard  the  most 
serious  resistance  to  the  college  authorities  in  the 
hundred  and  thirty  years  of  the  life  of  the  college. 
Of  course,  rebellion  was  in  the  air.  As  the  people 
were  passing  acts  against  the  British  Parliament, 
their  sons  were  passing  acts  against  the  Harvard 
Faculty.  In  such  a  condition  a  slight  offense  may 
be  sufficient  for  arousing  collegiate  patriotism.  It 
was  announced  to  the  sons  of  the  colonial  patriots 
that  all  excuses  for  absence  from  the  college  exer- 
cises must  be  offered  before  the  absence  occurred. 
Under  this  provocation  the  students  assembled 
under  a  tree  which  they  called  the  "  Tree  of  Lib- 
erty," and  voted  their  dissent.  Several  of  those 
who  were  concerned  in  this  resistance  were  ex- 
pelled. The  senior  class  asked  the  President  to 
dismiss  them  to  Yale,  and  the  three  other  classes 
also  asked  to  be  dismissed.  But  this  rebellion  was 
not  pushed  to  a  further  extent.  The  senior  and 
the  other  classes  remained  at  Harvard,  and  there 
received  their  degrees. 

The  Bread  and  Butter  Rebellion  at  Yale  in  1828 
is  representative  of  the  difficulties  which  a  college 
finds  in  setting  forth  board  for  its  students.  Stu- 
dents, like  all  persons  not  living  at  their  own 
homes,  are  inclined  to  be  dissatisfied  with  the 
food  spread  before  them,  and,  not  following  the 
Scriptural  injunction,  are  inclined  to  ask  questions 
and  even  to  make  affirmations  as  well  as  interroga- 

120 


The  Government  of  Students 

tions.  In  the  summer  of  1828,  at  Yale  College, 
much  complaint  was  made  of  the  food  provided 
by  the  college  steward.  Representations  of  dissat- 
isfaction were  formally  offered  by  representatives 
of  each  of  the  three  lower  classes ;  but  these  repre- 
sentations did  not  secure  any  improvement.  At 
last  the  condition  became  so  strained  that  the 
whole  body  of  the  students  agreed  that  they  would 
not  continue  at  the  Commons  until  the  changes 
they  requested  should  be  made.  A  committee  was 
appointed  to  inform  the  Faculty  of  the  decision. 
The  committee  called  upon  President  Day,  and 
were  informed  that  no  attention  whatsoever  would 
be  paid  to  their  complaints  thus  submitted,  as  they 
were  in  a  state  of  rebellion,  but,  should  they  lay 
down  their  arms,  the  matter  of  the  complaint 
would  be  considered.  A  meeting  of  the  whole 
body  of  the  students  followed,  by  which  it  was 
declared  in  their  behalf  that  they  had  repeatedly 
made  complaint  of  their  grievances  to  the  Faculty, 
and  had  been  promised  relief,  but  these  promises 
had  not  been  kept.  They  could  not  get  relief  with 
satisfaction  to  their  dignity  or  self-respect.  They 
therefore  reaffirmed  their  refusal  to  return  to  the 
Commons.  The  next  day  four  students  who  had 
made  themselves  especially  obnoxious  were  sum- 
moned before  the  Faculty  and  asked  if  they  would 
submit  to  the  rules  of  the  college  and  go  into  the 
Commons.  They  declined  and  were  expelled.  Ex- 
citement had  now  reached  its  climax.  The  four 
men  expelled  became  martyrs.  A  meeting  was 
held  in   the  open  air  on  what  is  now  Hillhouse 

121 


The  Government  of  Students 

Avenue,  at  which  a  valedictory  oration  was  pro- 
nounced by  one  of  the  four  men  who  had  been 
expelled,  and  other  exercises  of  a  somewhat  touch- 
ing and  ridiculous  nature  were  held.  A  proces- 
sion was  formed,  which  moved  to  the  college 
green,  and  in  the  darkness  of  night,  falling  on 
the  turf  with  hands  joined,  the  students  sang  a 
parting  hymn  to  the  tune  of  "  Auld  Lang  Syne." 
The  next  day  the  college  assumed  an  unusual 
quietness,  for  only  a  handful  of  the  students  re- 
mained. In  this  rebellion,  however,  as  in  most, 
division  means  conquest.  A  few  days  spent  at 
home  with  one's  parents  are  usually  sufficient  to 
dull  the  edge  of  collegiate  patriotism.  Most  of 
the  men  were  soon  ready  to  apply  for  re-admission 
to  the  college.  The  Faculty  caused  it  to  be  known 
that  the  four  men  who  had  been  expelled  would 
not  be  accepted  on  any  terms,  but  that  others 
might  return  in  case  they  would  acknowledge 
their  fault  and  sign  pledges  that  they  would  hence- 
forth obey  college  rules.  Under  these  conditions 
nearly  all  who  had  been  concerned  in  the  rebellion 
returned. 

This,  the  Bread  and  Butter  Rebellion,  was,  how- 
ever, far  less  serious  than  the  Conic  Sections  Re- 
bellion of  two  years  later.  This  rebellion,  the 
most  serious  that  has  arisen  in  Yale  College,  had 
its  origin  in  the  unwillingness  of  the  Faculty  to 
grant  a  petition  of  the  sophomore  class  in  reference 
to  the  method  of  reciting  in  conic  sections.  They 
asked  that  they  be  allowed  to  explain  conic  sec- 
tions from  the  book,  and  not  demonstrate  them 

122 


The  Government  of  Students 

from  the  figures.  When  this  petition  was  refused 
a  certain  portion  of  the  class  refused  to  recite  in  the 
manner  required.  It  became  apparent  that  there 
was  a  combination  upon  the  part  of  a  portion  of 
the  class  to  oppose  the  laws  of  the  Faculty.  Pres- 
ently a  paper  was  sent  to  the  Faculty,  signed  and 
approved  of  by  no  less  than  forty-nine  members 
of  the  class,  in  which  they  declared  that  they  would 
not  recitain  the  way  desired  by  the  Faculty.  Soon 
another  paper  was  submitted  to  the  governing 
board,  in  which  it  was  said  that  their  resolution 
was  taken,  they  would  not  retract,  and  they  would 
not  obey  any  summons  to  appear  before  the  Fac- 
ulty. Upon  such  an  inflammatory  and  rebellious 
statement,  the  Faculty  at  once  expelled  forty-four 
members  of  the  class.  Such  a  summary  and  whole- 
sale dealing  was  a  surprise  to  the  men  themselves, 
and  was  possibly  a  surprise  to  other  colleges  in  the 
United  States.  But  the  issue  was  of  such  impor- 
tance that  other  colleges  refused  to  receive  any 
one  of  these  forty-four  men,  with  a  few  exceptions. 
This  disastrous  termination  of  the  Conic  Sections 
Rebellion  put  a  stop  to  all  concerted  action  on  the 
part  of  students  against  the  governing  bodies. 

It  is  seldom  that  college  rebellions  have  resulted 
in  the  loss  of  life.  I  recall  no  such  instance  in  the 
North,  but  two  or  three  such  instances  do  occur 
in  the  colleges  of  the  South ;  for  in  the  earlier  years 
society  in  the  South  was  such  that  it  the  more 
easily  lent  itself  to  the  severer  forms  of  resistance. 
Students  are  largely  influenced  by  their  environ- 
ment.    The  civilization  of  States  like  Alabama  and 

123 


The  Government  of  Students 

Mississippi  was  of  a  frontier  type.  A  large  part 
of  the  white  people  had  not  learned  to  submit  to 
the  restraints  of  law.  The  sons  of  the  pioneers 
were  restless  under  college  government,  and  were 
inclined  to  secure  satisfaction,  at  their  own  hands, 
of  any  college  officer  who  may  have  offended 
them. 

Possibly  as  serious  as  any  of  these  college  rebel- 
lions was  that  of  1836  in  the  University  of  Virginia. 
A  severe  infringement  of  college  rules  had  occurred, 
leading  to  the  summary  dismissal  of  no  less  than 
seventy  of  the  students.  The  ground  of  this  ac- 
tion was  that  the  students  had  possessed  them- 
selves of  fire-arms,  and  had  avowed  a  determination 
of  holding  their  arms  notwithstanding  the  prohibi- 
tion of  the  Faculty.  It  also  appeared  that  the 
students  had  combined  into  an  association  called 
the  "University  Volunteers,"  in  order  to  bring 
and  to  hold  arms  within  the  precincts  of  the  uni- 
versity. After  certain  conferences  the  University 
Volunteers  decided  to  resist  the  college  authorities. 
On  the  second  night  after  the  refusal  of  the  com- 
pany to  assent  to  the  rules  of  the  university,  the 
discharge  of  muskets  on  the  lawn  was  constant, 
and  also  there  occurred  what  possibly  might  be 
called  a  riot.  The  houses  of  the  professors  were 
attacked,  the  doors  of  these  houses  forced  open, 
blinds  and  windows  broken,  and  there  was  some 
reason  to  believe  that  a  purpose  of  attempting  per- 
sonal violence  was  entertained.  Professor  Davis 
of  the  Faculty,  four  years  after  this  riot,  was  shot 
down  and  killed  in  front  of  the  door  of  his  house 

124 


The  Government  of  Students 

by  a  student  who  was  celebrating  the  anniversary 
of  its  occurrence.  The  student  was  disguised  and 
masked,  and  was  firing  a  pistol  on  the  lawn.  See- 
ing Mr.  Davis,  he  retired  a  few  paces,  and  then 
deliberately  shot  him.  It  appeared  that  the  stu- 
dent had  no  particular  dislike  for  Professor  Davis, 
but  he  had  determined,  as  it  became  evident,  to 
shoot  any  professor  who  tried  to  discover  him 
while  engaged  in  this  act  of  celebration. 

Such  forced  opposition  to  the  rules  of  a  college 
Faculty  has  seldom  been  witnessed.  However,  in 
the  University  of  Alabama,  as  I  have  intimated, 
such  antagonism  was  evident  in  the  fourth,  fifth, 
and  sixth  decades  of  this  century.  In  one  of  these 
affrays — which  was  rather  an  affair  existing  among 
the  students— one  of  the  students  was  shot. 

The  last  of  the  rebellions  to  which  I  shall  allude 
occurred  in  Williams  College  in  1868.  The  occa- 
sion was  slight,  as  is  not  infrequently  the  char- 
acter of  the  occasions  of  college  rebellions.  It 
was  the  passing  of  the  following  rule :  "  Each  ab- 
sence from  any  recitation,  whether  at  the  begin- 
ning of  or  during  the  term,  whether  excused  or 
unexcused,  will  count  as  zero  in  the  record  of  stand- 
ing. In  cases,  however,  in  which  attendance  shall 
be  shown  by  the  student  to  have  been  impossible, 
each  officer  shall  have  the  option  of  allowing  the 
recitation  to  be  made  up  at  such  time  as  he  shall 
appoint ;  and  no  mark  shall  be  given  to  such  reci- 
tation, unless  it  shall  amount  to  a  substantial  per- 
formance of  the  work  omitted." 

To  this  rule  the  students  took  the  most  serious 

125 


The  Government  of  Students 

offense,  and  presently  the  entire  college  assembled, 
adopted  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions : 

Whereas,  The  Faculty  of  Williams  College  have  im- 
posed upon  us,  students  of  said  college,  a  rule  that  "Each 
absence  from  any  recitation,  whether  at  the  beginning  of 
or  during  the  term,  whether  excused  or  unexcused,  will 
count  as  zero  in  the  record  of  standing.  In  cases,  how- 
ever, in  which  attendance  shall  be  shown  to  have  been 
impossible,  each  officer  shall  have  the  option  of  allowing 
the  recitation  to  be  made  up  at  such  time  as  he  shall  ap- 
point ;  and  no  mark  shall  be  given  to  such  recitation,  un- 
less it  shall  amount  to  a  substantial  performance  of  the 
work  omitted  " ;  and 

Whereas,  We,  students  of  said  Williams  College,  re- 
gard the  imposition  of  this  rule  as  a  blow  aimed  at  our 
personal  honor  and  manhood ;  and 

Whereas,  Our  petition  presented  to  the  Faculty  of  said 
Williams  College,  November  6,  1868,  for  the  repeal  of  the 
above-mentioned  rule,  has  been  disregarded ;  therefore 

Resolved,  That  we,  students  of  said  Williams  College, 
declare  our  connection  with  said  college  to  cease  from 
this  date,  until  the  authorities  of  said  college  shall  repeal 
the  above-mentioned  rule. 

The  following  resolution  was  also  unanimously 
adopted : 

Resolved,  That  we,  as  a  body  of  young  men,  agree  to 
remain  in  this  neighborhood,  and  abstain  from  all  ob- 
jectionable conduct,  until  the  final  settlement  of  our 
difficulties. 

Presently  the  Faculty  made  a  statement  through 
the  newspapers  and  also  a  statement  to  the  parents 
of  each  of  the  students. 

126 


The  Government  of  Students 

Dr.  Hopkins  at  once  set  himself  to  removing  the 
antagonism.  In  the  first  place,  he  made  clear  to 
the  students  that  their  resolutions  declaring  their 
connection  with  the  college  at  an  end  was  not 
tenable.  No  student  could  thus  dissolve  his  asso- 
ciation with  the  college.  The  students  were  there- 
fore members  of  Williams  College.  He  also  made 
it  clear  that  the  Faculty  rules  the  institution,  and 
that  they  must  rule  it,  and  that  any  combination 
against  its  authority  was  contradictory  to  the 
pledge  which  each  man  made  at  his  matriculation. 
President  Hopkins  also,  through  personal  inter- 
views with  students,  made  it  appear  that  certain 
elements  of  the  resolution  to  which  they  objected 
did  not  have  his  approval.  This  statement  pos- 
sibly had  great  influence  with  the  students.  In 
this  rebellion,  as  in  all  rebellions,  time  gave  oppor- 
tunity for  receiving  letters  from  home.  These 
letters  are  usually— if  not  invariably— in  favor  of 
the  students  obeying  the  rules  and  heeding  the 
requests  of  the  college  officers.  Presently  an  im- 
pression began  to  prevail  in  the  college  among 
some  of  the  men  that  they  had  made  a  mistake  in 
resisting  the  rule.  Soon  regular  recitations  were 
appointed,  and  the  students  found  themselves  in 
attendance.  The  rule  was  afterward  modified 
slightly,  and,  be  it  said,  not  a  student  left  the  col- 
lege because  of  the  adoption  of  the  rule  itself. 
After  five  days  of  interruption  order  was  restored.1 

The  rebellion  has  now  quite  wholly  disappeared 
from  the  ordinary  life  of  the  American  college ;  for 

1  Carter,  "Mark  Hopkins,"  pp.  79-98. 
127 


The  Government  of  Students 

the  conditions  out  of  which  the  rebellion  usually 
grows  have,  on  the  whole,  been  eliminated.  The 
body  of  the  teachers  and  the  body  of  the  students 
do  not  now  stand,  as  they  stood  sixty  years  ago, 
at  points  of  antagonism.  The  Faculty  of  a  college 
is  usually  eager  to  suffer  as  few  points  of  collision 
as  possible  between  themselves  and  the  students. 
The  college  laws  have  also  become  far  less  numer- 
ous and  far  less  personal  than  of  old.  The  general 
college  law  is  that  each  man  shall  be  a  gentleman. 
If  he  prove  himself  not  to  be  a  gentleman,  he  is 
usually  asked  to  retire  from  the  college.  The  col- 
lege officers,  also,  are  more  inclined  to  put  them- 
selves in  the  place  of  the  student.  They  have 
become  sympathetic  with  the  great  undergraduate 
body.  This  oneness  of  heart  is  illustrated  in  the 
reply  made  by  one  who  is  now  a  college  President 
to  the  question  whether  he  would  accept  a  college 
presidency.  "  I  will  accept,"  he  said,  "  if  you  let  me 
go  in  swimming  with  the  boys  every  day."  College 
officers  feel  that  the  interests  of  the  students 
are  their  own  interests.  Therefore,  if  laws  either 
scholastic  or  personal  are  made,  explanations  re- 
garding the  reasons  for  making  these  laws  and 
also  regarding  their  nature  are  easily  and  naturally 
suggested  to  the  students.  The  rights  of  the  stu- 
dents, natural  or  prescribed,  are  more  honored. 

It  is  possible  that  rebellions  will  still  spring  up 
in  American  colleges.  They  arise  out  of  conditions 
which  occasionally  may  obtain,  in  case  college 
officers  are  not  wise,  or  in  case  students  are  un- 
reasonable.    But   the   conditions   are   exceptional 

128 


The  Government  of  Students 

and  rare  in  which,  in  a  well-constituted  and  well- 
governed  American  college,  a  general  rebellion  of 
the  students  against  the  order  and  discipline  of  the 
college  is  possible. 

For  the  government  of  the  students  in  American 
colleges  has  undergone  a  revolution  in  the  last  half- 
century.  Students  are  no  longer  made  the  objects 
of  such  inquisitorial  investigations  as  were  the 
earlier  students  at  Princeton  or  at  Harvard.  As 
these  inquisitorial  investigations  have  lessened,  the 
students  themselves  have  responded  to  the  greater 
trust  reposed  in  themselves.  The  American  col- 
lege community  is  now  as  orderly  a  part  of  the 
community,  under  common  conditions,  as  it  could 
be  expected  to  be.  The  men  themselves  are — with 
occasional  lapses,  be  it  said — as  self-respecting  as 
any  part  of  the  whole  community. 

The  cause  of  these  changes  is  manifest.  The 
cause  most  evident,  although  not  the  most  funda- 
mental, is  the  change  in  the  methods  of  the  college 
officers  in  treating  the  students.  These  changes  in 
method  are  best  set  forth  in  the  address  which 
President  Nott  of  Union  College  made  on  the  oc- 
casion of  the  celebration  of  the  semi-centennial  of 
his  becoming  President.  These  changes  are  also 
illustrated  in  his  own  career  as  an  executive  in 
Union  College.  In  the  first  years  of  this  century 
in  the  government  of  Union  College,  the  Faculty 
met  as  a  court,  summoned  offenders,  examined  wit- 
nesses, and  passed  judgments  with  all  the  formality 
of  a  civil  tribunal.  Such  a  method  President  Nott 
felt  was  wrong  in  principle  and  unwise  in  method. 
9  129 


The  Government  of  Students 

Once  one  of  the  professors  came  to  an  issue  with 
one  of  the  students  on  so  simple  a  question  as  the 
right  of  the  student  to  illuminate  his  room  on  a 
special  occasion.  The  student  would  not  accede  to 
the  wish  of  the  professor,  and  he  was  accordingly 
expelled.  The  father  of  the  boy  appealed  to  the 
Board  of  Trustees  to  set  aside  the  sentence,  and 
after  a  discussion  of  half  a  year,  with  many  accom- 
panying disturbances,  the  student  was  restored  to 
his  place  in  the  college.  It  was  at  this  time  Presi- 
dent Nott  determined  that  such  methods  should 
cease.  He  decided  to  adjust  the  government  of  the 
college  to  the  age,  temperament,  and  conditions  of 
the  students.  Whenever  any  student  was  found 
offending  in  conduct  or  delinquent  in  his  studies, 
he  was  treated  as  a  child  would  be  treated  by  his 
father  in  similar  conditions.  His  most  intimate 
companions  were  urged  to  take  an  interest  in  his 
welfare ;  if  he  were  a  member  of  a  society,  that  so- 
ciety was  asked  to  bring  all  its  influence  to  bear 
upon  him.  Moral  and  religious  interests,  sense  of 
honor,  were  the  motives  and  conditions  that  were 
used  to  aid  students  to  be  gentlemen.  It  is  prob- 
able that  President  Nott  has  had  a  larger  and  more 
renowned  success  in  managing  students  for  the 
larger  part  of  his  career  than  any  other  college 
President  has  ever  had.  But  the  conditions 
that  he  found  valuable  throughout  his  conspicuous 
and  prolonged  career  represent  the  method  that  is 
now  prevailing  among  American  colleges. 

Two  theories  of  the  relation  of  the  American  col- 
lege to  its  students  do  yet  obtain.     One  theory  is 

130 


The  Government  of  Students 

that  the  college  is  a  family — that  the  college  officers 
stand  in  the  place  of  the  parent,  and  the  college 
student  in  the  place  of  the  son.  As  becomes  the 
parent,  it  is  therefore  the  duty  of  the  college  officer 
to  maintain  watch  and  ward  over  each  student. 
The  college  is  not,  of  course,  a  family,  but  even 
if  it  is  not,  in  the  opinion  of  those  who  believe 
in  this  system,  the  results  that  are  secured  in 
the  family  should  be  secured  in  the  college.  In 
the  place  of  any  lack  is  substituted  a  system  of 
rules  and  regulations.  These  rules  and  regulations 
are  supposed  to  take  the  place  in  the  college  of 
what  the  family  gives  through  its  various  personal 
ministries.  A  second  system  of  government  is  the 
very  opposite  of  the  domestic ;  it  is  a  system  that 
is  distinguished  by  its  want  of  government.  The 
college  has  no  relation  to  the  personal  character  or 
personal  relations  of  the  student;  the  college  is 
concerned  only  with  the  giving  of  instruction, 
as  the  student  in  his  function  of  a  student  is 
concerned  only  with  his  capacity  for  receiving 
instruction. 

These  two  systems  seldom  exist  in  the  naked  and 
bald  form  in  which  I  outline  them,  but,  as  theories, 
they  obtain  to  a  greater  or  less  extent.  Between 
these  two  theories  are  to  be  found  many  practical 
modifications  of  them.  The  emphasis  is  sometimes 
placed  upon  the  domestic  side,  and  sometimes 
upon  the  side  of  freedom ;  and  in  the  same  college 
at  varying  periods  the  emphasis  varies. 

In  the  discussion  of  these  correlated  theories  at 
least  four  questions  emerge :  (1)  Are  American  stu- 

131 


The  Government  of  Students 

dents  old  enough  to  determine  and  to  guide  their 
conduct ?  (2)  Should  the  college  attempt  to  control 
the  private  and  personal  life  of  students?  (3) 
Should  the  college  demand  of  students  conduct 
which  their  homes  do  not  demand?  And  (4)  is 
there  any  method  by  which  even  a  small  minority 
of  college  students  can  be  saved  from  going  to  the 
bad? 

The  age  of  men  entering  the  ordinary  American 
college  is  now  about  eighteen  and  a  half  years.  It 
varies,  of  course,  in  different  colleges,  and  also  in 
the  same  college  at  different  periods.  This  age  has 
in  the  course  of  the  present  century  increased. 
The  average  age  of  the  members  of  the  freshman 
class  of  Adelbert  College  of  Western  Reserve  Uni- 
versity entering  in  the  fall  of  1899  was  about  nine- 
teen. At  the  present  time,  however,  through 
better  methods  of  education  prevailing  in  the 
secondary  schools,  the  age  is  in  many  colleges 
lessening;  but  eighteen  years  and  a  half  is  still 
the  average  age  of  the  collegian  beginning  his 
course.  Is  a  student,  therefore,  of  an  age  from 
eighteen  to  twenty-two  years  sufficiently  mature 
to  be  left  to  himself  in  all  matters  of  conduct?  Is 
he  fitted  to  work  out  his  character  without  super- 
vision or  aid  of  any  kind  from  the  officers  of  the 
college  ? 

It  is  certainly  true  that  some  men  are  fitted  to 
perform  this  most  serious  and  happy  task;  some 
men  of  these  years  are  as  mature  as  other  men  are 
at  thirty.  At  eighteen  some  boys  have  habits  as 
well  formed,  both  in  point  of  the  content  of  the 

132 


The  Government  of  Students 

habit  and  its  fixedness,  as  others  at  the  age  of 
twenty-five.  It  is  also  true  that  certain  boys  at 
the  age  of  eighteen  and  twenty  are  as  unformed  in 
respect  to  the  fixed  application  of  principles  to 
conduct  as  others  may  be  at  fifteen  or  even  twelve. 
A  friend  of  mine  writes  to  me,  saying :  "  In  general, 

College  did  not  do  its  duty  by  me.    It  took  me 

at  sixteen  out  of  a  quiet  home  in  a  remote  town, 
and  gave  me  no  affectionate  personal  supervision 
of  the  older-brotherly  sort,  and  not  even  effective 
surveillance  of  the  schoolmaster  kind.  I  think  the 
active,  personal  interest  then  of  a  good  college 
professor  might  have  expedited  my  eventual  de- 
velopment at  least  five  years.  My  own  and  my 
friend's  principles  were  not  established ;  we  squan- 
dered time  atrociously,  though  not  in  vice,  beyond 
whist  and  a  little  beer ;  had  no  regular  habits  in 
work  and  in  play;  and,  in  general,  were  negligent 
and  neglected  children."  The  man  who  now  writes 
these  words  is  a  conspicuous  author,  and  he  writes 
them  after  more  than  twenty  years'  absence  from 
the  college  in  which  he  was  a  student.  Another, 
who  also  was  a  student  in  the  same  college  and  at 
the  same  time,  writes :  "  The  average  student  in 
my  day  was  quite  as  much  controlled  by  principle 
as  the  average  man  of  the  world— more  under  such 
control,  I  think.  I  doubt  if  more  stringent  regu- 
lations than  existed  would  have  secured  better 
results." 

The  degree  of  maturity  which  is  found  in  college 
students  depends  to  a  large  extent  upon  whether 
they  were  fitted  in  high  schools  and  lived  in  their 

•33 


The  Government  of  Students 

own  homes  during  the  time  of  preparation,  or 
whether  they  were  fitted  in  academies  away  from 
their  homes.  In  certain  colleges  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  students  come  from  high  schools ;  in 
other  colleges  a  large  percentage  come  from  acade- 
mies which  are  in  corporate  association  with  the 
colleges  themselves ;  and  in  other  colleges  a  large 
proportion  come  from  independent  academies.  In 
the  twenty  years  between  1866  and  1885  there 
entered  Harvard  College  from  the  public  schools 
about  twenty -nine  per  cent,  of  the  members  of 
each  freshman  class:  from  1866  to  1869  it  was 
thirty  per  cent.;  from  1870  to  1873,  thirty-three 
per  cent. ;  from  1874  to  1877,  twenty-nine  per 
cent.;  from  1878  to  1881,  thirty-one  per  cent.; 
and  from  1882  to  1885,  twenty-six  per  cent. 
About  the  same  proportion  entered  from  endowed 
schools,  such  as  the  Phillips  academies,  and  the 
balance  from  private  tuition  and  from  other  col- 
leges. Students  who  enter  our  colleges  from  en- 
dowed schools  are  usually  fitted  to  regulate  their 
own  conduct,  but  those  who  find  their  first  absence 
from  home  contemporaneous  with  their  entrance 
to  college — who,  in  other  words,  while  pursuing 
their  preparatory  course  live  at  home — should  not 
at  once  be  given  absolute  and  entire  freedom ;  or,  if 
this  is  given  to  them,  it  should  be  given  to  them 
under  such  personal  or  semi-official  conditions  as 
to  cause  them  to  feel  the  restraining  inspiration  of 
friendship.  Every  man  who  enters  Yale  College 
at  once  feels  the  difference  in  maturity  between  his 
classmates  who  enter  from  the  Hopkins  Grammar 

134 


The  Government  of  Students 

School  and  those  who  come  from  Andover  and 
Exeter.  The  truth,  therefore,  seems  to  be  that 
some  boys  are  old  enough  on  entering  college  to 
be  left  to  themselves,  and  some  boys  are  not.  The 
general  truth  is  that  those  who  enter  college  are 
neither  boys,  as  some  say  they  are,  nor  are  they 
men,  as  others  also  affirm,  but  that  they  are  young 
men:  certain  characteristics  of  boyhood  still  are 
theirs,  and  certain  characteristics  of  manhood  are 
also  theirs;  from  the  condition  of  boyhood  they 
rapidly  emerge,  and  as  fast  enter  the  condition  of 
manhood. 

It  becomes  evident,  therefore,  that  in  certain 
cases  it  is  the  right,  even  if  not  the  duty,  for  the 
college  to  control  the  private  life  of  students.  It 
is  also  evident  that  in  certain  cases  it  is  not  expe- 
dient for  the  college  to  attempt  any  such  direction. 
But  it  may  be  safely  said  that  the  college  as  a 
college  is  deeply  interested  in  the  private  life  of 
each  of  its  students,  for  the  college  desires  that 
each  student  shall  secure  the  noblest,  richest,  and 
best  results  from  his  college  course.  Therefore 
nothing  can  be  foreign  to  the  interest  of  the  college 
which  concerns  the  interest  of  its  students.  The 
only  question  for  the  college  to  consider  is  the 
general  question,  by  what  ways  and  means  can  it 
best  influence  the  private  life  of  each  man  who  is 
committed  to  it  for  four  years !  It  may  be  said,  I 
think,  that  students  at  once  are  rebellious  against 
the  control  of  their  private  life  by  the  college  au- 
thorities, and  are  also  hospitable  to  all  general 
influences  of  the  college  that  look  to  the  formation 

U5 


The  Government  of  Students 

of  their  best  character.  Students  wish  to  be  helped ; 
students  do  not  wish  to  be  commanded ;  they  are 
open  to  influence  and  not  to  control;  personality 
rather  than  law  represents  the  wise  method. 

Not  a  few  American  colleges  are  subject  to  a 
difficult  condition  in  respect  to  the  control  of  their 
students.  American  education  has  not  as  yet  fully 
and  exactly  articulated  itself.  In  most,  but  not 
all,  of  the  universities  which  attempt  to  give  grad- 
uate instruction,  the  department  of  graduate  in- 
struction and  the  undergraduate  department  are 
very  closely  related.  Graduate  students  are  usu- 
ally found  in  undergraduate  classes,  and  certain 
undergraduate  students  are  frequently  found  in 
classes  designed  primarily  for  graduates  them- 
selves. This  condition  obtains  both  in  Cambridge 
and  in  New  Haven.  On  the  other  hand,  most 
American  colleges  have  in  very  close  association 
with  themselves  a  preparatory  department.  Even 
if  there  be  a  formal  division  made  between  the 
work  of  these  two  departments,  the  same  general 
influences  control  the  students  of  both  depart- 
ments. Frequently,  too,  the  students  in  the  two 
departments  recite  in  the  same  classes.  Graduate 
students  represent  a  degree  of  maturity  and  worthy 
self -direction  which  undergraduates  do  not  possess, 
and  undergraduate  students  represent  a  degree  of 
self-control  which  preparatory  students  can  lay  no 
claim  to.  When  these  two  classes  of  students,  the 
graduate  and  the  undergraduate,  are  placed  under 
the  same  general  conditions,  it  is  difficult  to  subject 
them  to  the  same  general  control,  and  also,  when 

136 


The  Government  of  Students 

undergraduate  students  and  preparatory  students 
are  found  to  be  in  the  same  institution,  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  ask  them  to  obey  the  same  set  of  rules. 
But  the  necessity  is  laid  upon  the  officers  of  insti- 
tutions which  are  thus  placed  with  these  duplex 
relationships  to  ask  students  of  varying  degrees  of 
maturity  and  of  immaturity  to  submit  to  the  same 
governing  principles  and  methods.  The  fact  is 
that  those  principles  and  methods  which  are  fitted 
for  the  less  mature  set  of  students  are  those  which 
ought  to  prevail.  College  authorities  usually  think 
it  is  better  to  subject  undergraduate  students  to 
the  same  conditions  which  preparatory  students 
ought  to  submit  to  than  to  give  to  preparatory 
students  that  freedom  which  undergraduate  stu- 
dents may  properly  enjoy.  With  the  increasing 
differentiation  prevailing  in  American  education, 
this  difficulty,  however,  is  sure  to  lessen. 

At  once  I  wish  to  say  that  the  best  method  of 
guiding  the  personal  morals  of  a  student  is  through 
making  constant  and  severe  intellectual  demands 
upon  him :  hard  work  is  an  enemy  to  easy  morals. 
Professional  schools  attempt  only  indirectly  to  in- 
fluence the  personal  character  of  their  students,  but 
the  officers  of  such  schools  usually  believe  that  the 
most  effective  method  of  aiding  the  students  to 
maintain  uprightness  in  conduct  is  by  maintaining 
high  scholastic  standards.  Such  a  method  should 
control  in  the  undergraduate  college.  The  man 
who  works  hard  in  college,  who  is  required  to  de- 
vote eight  or  ten  hours  a  day  to  the  performance 
of  his  academic  tasks,  has  usually  little  time  for 

U7 


The  Government  of  Students 

evil  indulgences,  or,  if  he  have  time,  has  little 
strength,  or,  if  he  have  strength,  has  little  incli- 
nation ;  and  the  man  who  lacks  time,  strength,  and 
inclination  for  base  indulgences  is  quite  sure  of 
being  free  from  them.  The  question  of  whether 
attendance  upon  recitations  shall  be  voluntary,  or 
whether  the  set  of  rules  in  a  college  shall  be  strict 
or  exact,  is  a  minor  question  in  relation  to  the 
necessity  of  making  severe  intellectual  require- 
ments. 

In  addition  to  the  aid  which  the  necessity  of  hard 
work  gives  in  the  securing  of  fine  personal  morality, 
every  college  should  recognize  that  the  personal 
relation  of  professors  to  students  and  the  great 
student  body  is  of  primary  value.  The  impor- 
tance of  this  relation  is  becoming  more  and  more 
conspicuous;  the  so-called  "Advisers"  at  Har- 
vard represent  and  embody  this  method.  The 
nickname  of  "nurses,"  which  is  given  among 
the  students  to  advisers,  embodies  in  essence  the 
idea  of  the  personal  relationship.  One  of  the  of- 
ficers of  the  college  writes  to  me  in  reference  to  this 
system,  saying :  "  The  more  I  see  of  personal  work 
among  students  the  greater  I  believe  its  power 
to  be.  The  only  drawback  is  the  shortness  of  life 
and  the  necessity  that  an  instructor  should  have 
some  time  for  study."  The  first  duty  of  the  teacher 
m  the  American  college  is  to  teach;  the  second 
duty  of  the  professor  in  the  American  college  is  to 
teach;  failure  in  teaching  is  fundamental,  but, 
when  the  professor  has  taught,  he  has  not  finished 
his  duty :  he  is  still  to  give  himself  to  his  students 

138 


The  Government  of  Students 

in  such  ways  as  he  deems  fitting  as  a  person  in 
order  to  help  them  to  become  better  persons. 

As  a  part  of  this  general  relationship  of  the  col- 
lege the  relation  of  the  students  to  each  other 
is  not  to  be  so  easily  passed  over,  as  it  has  often 
been,  for  older  students  may  be  of  the  greatest 
help  to  the  younger.  The  influence  of  college  stu- 
dent over  college  student  is  frequently  of  greater 
value  than  the  influence  of  college  professor  over 
college  student.  We  recognize  the  value  of  influ- 
ence toward  evil ;  the  value  of  the  influence  of  the 
student  toward  good  may  be  equally  strong.  Stu- 
dents, like  professors,  who  have  the  qualities  of  a 
strong  personality  united  with  tact,  patience,  and 
enthusiasm,  may  be  of  the  utmost  worth  in  helping 
their  associates  to  the  best  life. 

College  officers  themselves,  as  well  as  graduates 
of  many  years'  standing,  believe  that  it  is  com- 
paratively useless  to  attempt  to  control  by  rules 
and  regulations  the  conduct  of  college  students; 
but  it  is  evident  that  through  personal  influence 
they  may  control  the  conduct  and  form  the  char- 
acter of  students.  Upon  this  point  I  have  recently 
read  scores  of  letters  from  graduates  of  long  stand- 
ing and  from  college  officers.  One  of  them,  the 
chairman  of  the  Faculty  of  an  old  and  conspicuous 
university,  says: 

In  my  college  days,  which  were  passed  at  Hampden 
Sidney  College,  Virginia,  and  at  the  University  from 
18G8  to  1873,  the  control  exercised  by  the  officers  of  dis- 
cipline was  mainly  through  influence  rather  than  through 

U9 


The  Government  of  Students 

authority.  There  was  never  any  espionage,  but  we  were 
trusted  to  do  what  we  knew  to  be  right,  and  the  sole  effec- 
tive cheek  upon  bad  habits  was  found  in  the  test  offered 
by  the  college  work. 

I  believed  then,  and  believe  now,  that  it  is  not  only 
wise  but  necessary  to  leave  the  college  student  to  govern 
himself.  Some  will  fall  into  error,  some  into  vice,  but  it 
is  a  time  in  the  life  of  a  young  man  when  his  character 
needs  the  very  discipline  that  is  offered  by  this  reliance 
upon  his  own  powers  of  self-control.  If  at  this  period 
students  are  kept  under  constant  surveillance,  their  char- 
acters are  likely  to  be  permanently  distorted.  All  that 
can  be  done  and  ought  to  be  done  is  to  bring  every  salu- 
tary and  uplifting  influence  to  bear  upon  the  student  life, 
to  offer  legitimate  and  wholesome  amusements  as  rivals 
of  those  that  are  unhealthy  and  illicit,  to  encourage  among 
the  young  men  a  feeling  of  personal  pride  and  honor  and 
self-respecting  uprightness,  to  establish  a  public  opinion 
among  the  students  which  frowns  upon  gross  vice  and  all 
forms  of  dishonorable  action ;  in  other  words,  to  make  the 
college  career  in  this  way  a  moral  gymnastic,  and  create 
out  of  the  college  student  a  worthy,  honest,  upright 
citizen. 

Another,  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan, and  a  lawyer,  writes : 

It  was  my  fortune  to  spend  two  years  in  a  New  Eng- 
land college  having  about  two  hundred  students,  and  to 
enter  Michigan  University  at  the  beginning  of  my  junior 
year.  At  the  former  institution  students  were  subjected 
to  a  close  watch— tutors  and  professors  rooming  in  the 
same  dormitories  with  the  pupils,  the  attendance  upon 
chapel  and  church  being  reported  by  monitors.  Notwith- 
standing this  oversight,  or  on  account  of  it,  no  opportu- 

140 


The  Government  of  Students 

nity  was  lost  on  the  part  of  the  boys  of  giving  vent  to 
their  animal  spirits.  Half-dressed  attendance  at  early 
chapel,  and  summer  nights  made  hideous  by  the  horn- 
blowing  of  ghost-clad  boys  on  the  roofs  of  the  dormi- 
tories, together  with  the  dangerous  practice  of  hazing, 
often  accompanied  by  a  rain  of  stones  like  a  hail-storm, 
demolishing  scores  of  panes  of  glass,  remain  as  vivid  pic- 
tures in  my  mental  gallery. 

Upon  entering  the  University  of  Michigan  I  found 
there  were  no  dormitories ;  the  marking  system  had  been 
abolished;  there  were  no  class  honors  or  rivalries  for 
prizes.  But  what  was  entirely  new  to  me  was  an  intel- 
lectual atmosphere  and  the  spirit  of  earnest  work  that 
pervaded  the  university  town,  and  this  gives  me  an  op- 
portunity to  write,  in  a  general  way,  upon  the  govern- 
ment of  college  students. 

Our  President  and  Faculty  succeeded  in  interesting  the 
students  in  their  work ;  the  numbers  were  large,  and  there 
was  a  strong  current  in  the  direction  of  earnest  appli- 
cation which  seemed  to  carry  every  one  with  it.  A  num- 
ber of  our  professors  were  making  discoveries  and  original 
investigations,  and  were  publishing  books  upon  their  vari- 
ous specialties.  The  works  on  spherical  trigonometry 
and  calculus  that  were  afterward  published  by  Professor 
Olney  were  used  in  manuscript  in  our  class  and  in  the 
form  of  lectures.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  there 
were  no  ponies  or  diminutive  books  on  shirt-cuffs.  Pro- 
fessor Watson  was  frequently  "bagging  an  asteroid." 
Professor  Cocker's  "Christianity  and  Greek  Philosophy" 
was  just  out,  and  placed  as  a  text-book  in  the  hands  of  the 
senior  class,  and  Cooley's  "Constitutional  Limitations" 
was  giving  him  and  the  University  a  name  on  both  sides  of 
the  ocean.  In  other  words,  the  University  was  not  con- 
ducted as  a  military  post,  where  boys  were  instructed  to  do 
some  definite  things  and  continually  warned  not  to  do  other 

141 


The  Government  of  Students 

specific  things,  but  all  alike,  Faculty  and  students,  seemed 
to  be  under  the  same  law  and  striving  for  a  common  ob- 
ject. The  moral  as  well  as  the  intellectual  life  of  the 
students  was  on  a  much  higher  plane  than  at  the  college 
which  was  governed  by  stricter  rules. 

Another,  a  physician  in  St.  Paul,  writes : 

Last  summer  I  was  in  Cambridge  for  a  week ;  I  roomed 
in  the  college  buildings  and  took  my  meals  in  Memo- 
rial Hall.  It  was  the  week  of  Class  Day,  when  nearly  all 
the  college  students  had  finished  their  college  duties ;  and 
if  the  devil  finds  work  for  idle  hands,  here  was  a  first- 
class  opportunity.  During  that  week  I  failed  to  see  a 
single  act  that  the  most  critical  observer  could  censure. 

A  few  days  later  I  was  for  a  few  hours  at  another  insti- 
tution, noted  for  its  strictness,  and  I  confess  I  saw  a  good 
deal  of  rowdyism.  Harvard  has  practically  no  laws ;  the 
other  has  a  statute-book  full  of  them.  I  think  I  may  be 
regarded  as  an  impartial  observer,  for  I  am  not  a  gradu- 
ate of  either  of  the  colleges  that  I  have  mentioned. 

Such  testimonies  I  might  greatly  multiply,  but 
all  such  testimonies  would  be  evidence  to  prove 
this  point — that  it  is  useless  for  the  American 
college  to  attempt  to  control  conduct  by  rules;  it 
is  worse  than  useless ;  and,  further,  it  is  of  abound- 
ing value  in  the  American  college  to  attempt  to 
control  conduct  and  to  form  character  through 
personal  relationships  and  through  the  necessity 
of  hard  work. 

A  further  question  arising  out  of  the  general 
subject  relates  to  whether  the  college  has  the  right 
to  demand  personal  conduct  of  students  which  the 

142 


The  Government  of  Students 

homes  from  which  students  come,  and  to  which 
they  still  belong,  though  in  college,  do  not  demand. 
It  may  be  at  once  said  that  the  college  has  the 
right,  abstract  and  absolute,  to  make  any  demand 
which  it  sees  fit  to  make.  The  college  is  usually 
a  private  corporation,  although  in  certain  large 
relations  it  is  a  public  trust,  and  therefore  it  may 
do  whatsoever  seemeth  to  itself  good.  But  a  col- 
lege never  interprets  its  rights  in  such  a  hard-and- 
fast  way.  It  holds  its  powers  in  trust  for  the 
people,  and  it  wishes  to  use  its  powers  so  that 
the  good  of  the  people  may  be  promoted.  Yet  the 
president  of  one  college  writes  to  me  defining  the 
right  of  the  college  to  exact  from  students,  in 
the  matter  of  drinking,  for  instance,  conduct  not 
required  in  their  homes,  on  the  grounds  (1)  that  a 
college  ought  to  have  a  higher  standard  of  life 
than  many  homes;  (2)  that  college  life  is  beset 
by  special  temptations;  and  (3)  that  in  their 
homes  young  men  are  surrounded  by  older  friends 
and  little  children.  They  are  to  be  compared  to 
grains  of  powder  scattered  through  a  barrel  of 
sawdust,  and  in  college  the  inflammable  material 
is  sifted  out  from  the  community  and  put  by  it- 
self, so  that  special  vigilance  is  required  to  prevent 
excess.  A  graduate  of  Amherst,  himself  a  distin- 
guished clergyman  of  the  Congregational  Church, 
writes:  "No  college  can  afford  to  lower  its  moral 
requirements  to  please  anybody,  and  it  cannot 
afford  to  imperil  its  students  by  allowing  any  who 
followed  evil  practices  at  home  to  indulge  in  them 
during  their  college  life."    Another  graduate  also 

143 


The  Government  of  Students 

writes  in  a  bold  spirit  that  "the  college  has  the 
right  to  demand  of  students,  in  the  matter  of 
drinking,  for  instance,  conduct  not  required  in  the 
home,  if  the  college  has,  or  proposes  to  have,  any 
character  itself.  If  the  student  smokes,  drinks,  or 
swears  at  home,  a  fortiori,  he  ought  to  be  taught 
better  in  college."  A  professor  in  a  New  England 
college  says : 

I  think  the  deterioration  in  college  life  is  due  to  the 
change  in  the  community.  Cards  and  spreads  were  not 
countenanced  in  old  times,  and  the  same  was  true  of  danc- 
ing, smoking,  and  social  evils.  I  believe  cards  hurt  our 
students  worse  than  all  else  put  together,  but  even  the 
ministers  of  to-day  are  experts  at  whist,  certainly  the  pro- 
fessors. The  country  is  wealthy,  and  it  is  the  rich  people 
that  bring  these  evils  upon  us.  It  is  not  that  I  consider 
cards,  dancing,  and  smoking  wrong,  but  they  take  away 
interest  in  study.  You  cannot  prohibit  them :  you  must 
rely  upon  moral  suasion.  Do  not  appoint  professors  who 
think  more  of  these  things  than  of  their  studies.  En- 
courage Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  healthful  exercise. 

Another  graduate,  who  is  at  the  head  of  one  of 
the  missionary  boards  of  one  of  the  great  churches, 
says: 

If  the  conduct  of  a  student  is  such  as  to  affect  unhap- 
pily the  character  of  the  college,  I  should  say  that  the 
college  had  the  right  by  all  means  to  exact  from  that 
student  different  conduct,  whatever  his  home  life  may  be. 
I  feel  that  our  colleges  should  show  a  life  and  character 
with  more  sinew  than  can  be  found  in  a  great  many  of 
our  homes. 

144 


The  Government  of  Students 

Further  testimony  is  derived  also  from  another 
graduate  of  Amherst  College,  who  is  also  at  the 
head  of  one  of  the  great  home  missionary  organi- 
zations : 

I  should  hold  the  opinion  that  the  college  has  the  right 
to  require  of  students  conduct  which  may  not  he  de- 
manded in  their  homes  in  so  far  as  the  welfare  of  the 
college  seems  to  demand  it.  There  are  habits  which 
may  be  allowed  in  the  home,  with  the  home  influences 
around  the  boy,  which  may  not  be  allowed  with  safety  in 
college  when  the  boy  is  out  from  under  the  watch  and 
care  of  parents. 

But,  on  the  other  side,  it  is  said  that  colleges  have 
no  right  to  exact  from  their  students  conduct  which 
their  homes  do  not  demand.  The  judge  of  the 
Probate  Court  and  Court  of  Insolvency  of  one  of 
the  large  counties  of  Massachusetts  writes : 

Colleges  should  not  exact  total  abstinence  from  drink- 
ing, smoking,  card-playing,  dancing,  and  other  things  not 
wrong  per  se.  The  professor  of  hygiene  may  lecture  on 
the  evils  of  excess  in  any  of  these  habits,  but  the  college 
should  not  interfere  unless  such  habits  prevent  the  stu- 
dent's attaining  the  minimum  standard  of  scholarship 
and  deportment. 

A  professor  in  a  divinity  school  says : 

I  think  that  the  college  has  the  right  to  have  its  own 
standard  of  personal  conduct,  irrespective  of  the  home 
habits  of  students ;  but  I  should  hesitate  to  make  that  a 
punishable  offense  which  in  the  best  (morally  best)  society 
was  looked  upon  as  a  thoroughly  innocent  indulgence. 

145 


The  Government  of  Students 

The  expressed  wish  of  a  parent  in  such  matters  would 
seem  to  be  entitled  to  some  consideration.  When  I  was 
a  member  of  the  Faculty  of  Antioch  College,  under  the 
presidency  of  Horace  Mann,  the  habit  of  profane  swear- 
ing was  made  a  bar  to  graduation,  and  card-playing  by 
the  students  was  prohibited ;  but  Mr.  Mann  attempted  in 
general  the  maintenance  of  a  higher  ethical  standard 
among  his  students  than  has  been  thought  feasible  in 
most  other  colleges.  It  must  be  confessed  that  in  these 
efforts  he  was  in  no  small  degree  successful. 

A  gentleman,  himself  able  and  distinguished,  and 
the  son  and  grandson  of  able  and  distinguished 
statesmen,  writes   upon  this  point,  saying : 

All  the  college  has  the  right  to  exact  from  students 
in  the  matter  of  drinking,  for  example,  is  a  fair  degree 
of  temperance  and  respect  for  the  public.  Exceptional 
cases  of  disorder  should  be  ruthlessly  weeded  out.  Ex- 
cept where  these  cases  appear,  the  students  should  be 
allowed  to  conduct  themselves  in  such  way  as  they  see  fit. 

A  professor  in  an  eminent  law  school  says : 

Certain  rules  as  to  conduct,  e.g.,  against  the  keeping 
of  wines  or  liquors  in  college  rooms,  may  be  permissible, 
though  I  think  such  prohibitions  should  be  established 
with  caution  ;  but  I  should  think  any  attempt  to  denounce 
as  immoral  practices  which  students  have  been  in  the 
habit  of  seeing  indulged  in  by  the  persons  whom  they 
most  respect  in  the  community  in  which  they  have  lived, 
such  as  smoking,  drinking,  card-playing,  however  well 
intended  such  denunciations  be,  would  be  pretty  certain 
to  have  an  evil  result. 

146 


The  Government  of  Students 

And  also  a  distinguished  citizen  of  Boston,  a  short 
time  before  his  death,  wrote  as  follows : 

Several  rules  tending  to  good  conduct,  as,  for  example, 
the  forbidding  of  the  use  of  liquor  in  college  rooms, 
would  seem  proper,  as  showing  the  opinion  and  influence 
of  the  college  on  the  subject,  but  in  a  general  way  one  of 
the  most  important  objects  is  to  teach  the  students  self- 
restraint  and  self-government  rather  than  to  make  them 
correct  by  compulsion.  It  has  been  discovered  that  stu- 
dents entering  from  the  most  precise  and  closely  regu- 
lated schools  are,  in  the  largest  proportion,  "  wild  "  when 
they  get  to  college. 

I  have  thus  at  length  set  forth  opposite  opinions 
respecting  the  right  of  the  college  to  exact  of  stu- 
dents methods  of  conduct  which  the  home  does  not 
demand.  The  general  question,  the  two  sides  of  which 
are  thus  represented  through  these  testimonies,  has 
its  quickest  application  to  the  question  of  the  use 
of  liquors.  Shall  the  college  endeavor  to  promote 
total  abstinence  among  its  students,  or  shall  it  en- 
deavor to  promote  temperance  1  In  other  words, 
shall  it,  through  the  practice  of  its  officers,  indi- 
cate that  it  is  well,  if  they  so  desire,  for  men  to 
partake  temperately  of  liquor,  or  shall  it,  through 
the  example  and  practice  of  its  professors,  indicate 
that  total  abstinence  is  the  only  rule  for  the  high- 
est type  of  self-respecting  gentlemen  to  follow? 
Upon  this  point  I  can  have  no  question  but  that 
the  best  rule  for  the  American  college,  through 
the  person  of  its  officers,  to  set  is  the  example  of 
total  abstinence.      The  primary  reason  for  this 

147 


The  Government  of  Students 

judgment  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  reputation  of  a 
college  of  the  most  temperate  indulgence  in  liquor 
by  its  officers  hurts  that  college  in  the  judgment 
of  a  large  body  of  the  American  people.  That 
this  reputation  does  hurt  the  college  there  can  be 
no  doubt.  Whether  with  reason  or  without  rea- 
son, many  homes  would  decline  to  send  their  sons 
to  colleges  which  did  possess  this  reputation.  It  is 
the  duty  of  the  officers  of  a  college  to  see  to  it  that 
in  every  possible  way  the  reputation  of  that  col- 
lege shall  be  of  the  worthiest. 

I  was  riding,  a  little  while  ago,  in  the  smoking- 
room  of  a  car,  when  a  distinguished  gentleman,  a 
professor  in  a  very  conspicuous  American  college, 
coming  into  the  smoking-room,  began  his  cigar. 
He  at  once  said  to  me,  "  I  suppose  you  do  not  object 
to  my  smoking."  Of  course  I  replied  in  the  nega- 
tive. But  he  added,  "  I  suppose  you  do  not  smoke." 
I  also  said  I  did  not,  and  I  inquired,  "  I  am  inter- 
ested to  know  why  you  say,  '  I  suppose  you  do  not 
smoke.' "  His  answer  was,  "  I  think  a  college  Pres- 
ident should  not  smoke."  The  reasons  which  would 
lead  my  distinguished  friend  to  the  opinion  that 
the  college  President  should  not  smoke  would  also 
lead  him  to  think  that  the  college  President  should 
not  drink.  Upon  this  simple  ground  of  reputation 
total  abstinence  should  be  the  rule  among  the 
officers  of  a  college. 

But  upon  this  point  a  college  may  prefer  to 
make  its  own  choices.  It  may  prefer  to  minis- 
ter only  to  those  who  do  wish  their  children  to 
be  brought  up  in  the  temperate  use  of  liquors. 

148 


The  Government  of  Students 

A  father  is  under  no  compulsion  to  send  a  son 
to  any  one  college.  If  lie  wish  his  boy  to  be 
brought  up  in  the  temperate  use  of  liquor,  it  is 
fitting  for  him  to  send  his  son  to  a  college  in 
which  the  temperate  use  of  liquor  is  advised. 
Let  him  adjust  his  boy  to  the  desired  college  condi- 
tion, and  let  the  college  adjust  itself  to  the  desires 
of  parents.  In  one  of  our  cities  before  the  war 
was  a  church  in  which  the  minister  was  accustomed 
to  defend  slave-holding.  He  at  once  made  for 
himself  a  constituency,  and  the  constituency  sup- 
ported that  minister.  In  the  same  way  it  may  be 
fitting,  and  much  might  be  said  in  favor  of  the 
proposition,  for  parents  who  wish  their  sons  to  be 
brought  up  in  the  temperate  use  of  liquor  to  send 
them  to  a  college  in  which  this  method  is  re- 
garded as  the  best  method  for  the  development  of 
character. 

I  suppose  it  must  be  said  that  there  is  no  method 
by  which  every  boy  going  to  college  can  be  saved 
from  evil.  The  Author  of  our  being  endeavors 
apparently  in  every  possible  way  to  save  men  from 
sin.  What  the  Author  of  our  being  has  failed  to 
do  it  is  pretty  certain  the  college  cannot  succeed  in 
doing.  In  any  system  of  moral  government  it  is 
apparently  true  that  some  will  make  evil  choices, 
and  must  suffer  the  results  of  such  choices.  In 
any  system  of  college  government  it  is  probably 
true  that  some  will  go  to  the  bad ;  but  these  results 
occurring  in  the  colleges  do  not  at  all  militate 
against  a  free  and  large  treatment  of  individual 
students.     The  divine  Author  of  our  being  has 

149 


The  Government  of  Students 

seen  fit  to  give  to  us  freedom  of  will  and,  to  a 
degree,  of  action,  although  knowing  in  advance 
that  some  would  abuse  this  freedom  and  would 
suffer  evil  consequences ;  but,  on  the  whole,  it  is 
apparently  the  rule  to  give  to  men  freedom,  though 
knowing  that  freedom  would  be  to  some  a  very 
expensive  luxury,  rather  than  to  make  all  pup- 
pets under  His  control,  even  if  no  harm  were  to 
result  through  such  direction.  Let  the  American 
college  believe  that  its  students  come  to  its  halls 
with  high  purposes,  with  characters  directed  to- 
ward righteousness,  eager  to  learn  the  truth,  sus- 
ceptible to  personal  influences,  and  willing  to  lend 
themselves  to  the  best  relationships  of  the  college. 
The  life  that  the  students  live  in  such  an  atmos- 
phere is  the  best  life  itself,  and  is  also  the  prepara- 
tion for  the  best  life. 

With  each  passing  generation  the  freedom 
belonging  to  the  American  college  student  in- 
creases, and  it  ought  to  increase.  This  freedom 
represents  what  is  by  common  testimony  an  ap- 
parent confession  that  the  college  students  of  to- 
day are  better  men  than  the  college  students  of 
thirty  and  forty  years  ago.  A  professor  in  Johns 
Hopkins  University,  writing  of  his  own  college, 
Amherst,  says: 

College  life  nowadays  seems  to  me  more  healthy  than 
it  was  in  my  student  days.  I  ascribe  the  fact  to  the 
gradual  blending  of  student  life  with  a  larger  social  life, 
which  is  always  saner  and  sounder  than  that  of  monastic 
communities  and  college  halls,  where  young  men  are 
thought  to  be  secluded  from  the  world.     Old-time  college 

150 


The  Government  of  Students 

life  was  barbaric  and  uncivilized  compared  with  that  of 
the  outside  world.  The  sooner  students  are  taught  to  be 
citizens  and  members  of  society  the  better  it  will  be  for 
colleges  and  for  the  country.  I  think  the  highest  type 
of  education  is  to  be  found  only  in  a  city  university, 
where  the  student  is  in  the  world,  but  not  of  it.  The 
country  college  is  perhaps  better  for  boys  and  for  ath- 
letics, but  country  seclusion  is  by  no  means  an  ideal  con- 
dition for  student  morals. 

A  friend,  writing  to  me  of  his  college,  says  that 
after  a  careful  observation  of  his  own  class  he  had 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  eighty-five  per  cent, 
of  his  classmates  were  morally  clean.  Twenty 
years  ago  I  know  that  hardly  fifty  per  cent,  of  the 
men  in  the  senior  class  were  morally  clean.  The 
change  has  been  great  and  in  every  respect  sal- 
utary. 

The  newspapers  teem  from  time  to  time  with 
reports  of  the  frolics  and  escapades  or  the  deviltries 
and  sins  and  crimes  of  college  boys.  Such  reports 
are  usually  exaggerations,  but  it  is  to  be  at  once 
said  that  the  personal  morals  of  college  men  are 
far  superior  to  the  personal  morals  of  any  body  of 
young  men  of  equal  size  outside  of  the  college.  A 
distinguished  graduate  of  Harvard  writes  me, 
saying: 

The  moral  tone  of  college  life  among  the  students  in 
my  day  was,  to  the  best  of  my  judgment,  distinctly  better 
than  the  moral  tone  of  young  men  of  the  same  age  out- 
side of  college  walls.  There  were  dissipated  young  men 
there  then,  as  there  are  dissipated  young  men  there  now ; 
but  the  dissipation  of  young  men  outside  the  college  walls 

151 


The  Government  of  Students 

was,  in  my  judgment,  distinctly  lower,  more  vulgar,  and 
more  degrading  than  that  of  those  inside  them. 

A  professor  in  Iowa  College  says : 

As  a  teacher  during  forty-five  years,  I  must  say  that 
the  average  student  is  noticeably  superior  to  the  non-stu- 
dent in  life  and  in  character.  Were  this  not  so  I  should 
be  tempted  to  the  most  profound  pessimism ;  as  it  is, 
however,  I  am  able  to  indulge  only  in  the  most  cheerful 
optimism. 

The  college  man  now  represents  the  finest  type  of 
young  manhood.  He  will  grow  yet  better  with 
each  passing  generation.  Worthy  freedom  under 
worthy  conditions  represents  the  best  method  and 
agency. 


152 


VI 
FINANCIAL  RELATIONS 


VI 
FINANCIAL  RELATIONS 

I 

AMOUNT  OF  ENDOWMENT 

IN  the  United  States  are  no  less  than  twenty 
colleges,  each  having  an  income-producing 
property  of  at  least  $1,000,000.  Among  these  are 
our  two  oldest  colleges,  Harvard,  which  has  more 
than  $10,000,000,  and  Yale,  which  has  about 
$5,000,000.  Columbia  has  an  amount  of  property, 
largely  real,  that  brings  an  annual  revenue  of  at 
least  $425,000 ;  Cornell  has  about  $6,000,000 ;  the 
University  of  Chicago  has  $8,000,000  or  more ;  and 
Johns  Hopkins  has  $3,000,000.  The  Northwestern 
University  also  has  $3,000,000,  and  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania  somewhat  more  than  $2,500,000; 
Wesleyan  University  of  Middletown,  Connecti- 
cut, has  more  than  $1,000,000,  as  also  has  Am- 
herst, as  well  as  Boston  University;  Rochester 
University  has  about  $1,200,000 ;  Tulane  Univer- 
sity of  Louisiana  is  to  be  placed  above  the  million 
mark,  as  are  also  Western  Reserve  University  of 
Ohio,   and  Brown  University  of   Rhode   Island. 

'55 


Financial  Relations 

Besides  these,  as  the  list  is  not  complete,  but  repre- 
sentative, several  State  universities  are  possessed 
of  either  funds  or  an  income  assured  by  the  State 
representing  property  of  at  least  $1,000,000. 
Among  the  wealthier  of  these  universities  are 
those  of  California,  of  Michigan,  of  Wisconsin, 
and  of  Minnesota.  Of  course  the  income-bearing 
property  of  these  and  other  colleges  increases: 
what  is  true  of  their  property  to-day  will  not  be 
true  to-morrow. 

The  wealth,  which  is  either  actually  or  poten- 
tially possessed  by  several  of  these  universities, 
that  crown  the  educational  system  of  their  com- 
monwealths, is  simply  magnificent.  It  had  its 
foundation  in  lands  set  aside  for  the  support  of 
education.  Although  certain  parts  of  these  public 
lands  were,  in  the  early  settlement  of  these  States, 
sold  at  a  ridiculously  low  figure,  yet,  in  the  newer 
States,  they  are  still  held  or  have  been  sold  at 
good  prices. 

In  the  United  States  are  about  four  hundred 
colleges  reporting  more  or  less  fully  to  the  National 
Bureau  of  Education.  If,  therefore,  the  number  of 
colleges  possessed  of  more  than  $1,000,000  each  is 
so  small,  it  is  evident  that  the  vast  majority  of  our 
colleges  are  poor.  The  number  of  colleges  which 
have  each  less  than  $200,000  in  interest-bearing 
funds  is  considerably  larger  than  the  number  of 
those  which  have  more  than  $200,000.  The  latest 
reports  show  that  all  these  colleges  have  at  least 
$150,000,000,  whence  they  derive  the  income  for 
their  support.    It  is  made  clear  from  the  same 

156 


Financial  Relations 

reports  that,  at  the  present  time,  the  value  of  the 
grounds,  buildings,  and  apparatus  of  these  colleges 
is  another  $150,000,000. 

It  is  of  special  interest  to  know  in  what  forms 
this  sum  of  $150,000,000  is  invested.  In  presenting 
the  facts  I  make  use  of  reports  sent  to  me  from  be- 
tween one  and  two  hundred  of  the  representative 
colleges,  and  also  of  reports  of  presidents  and 
treasurers  of  these  colleges.  From  these  reports  I 
infer  that  at  least  four-fifths  of  all  the  productive 
funds  of  the  colleges  are  invested  in  bonds  and 
mortgages.  Few  colleges,  and  a  few  only,  have  a 
part  of  their  endowment  in  stocks  of  any  sort.  A 
few  of  them,  notably  Columbia  and  Harvard,  have 
invested  largely  in  real  estate.  The  facts  as  to 
certain  representative  colleges  are  illustrative. 
Cornell  University  has  about  $4,000,000  in  bonds 
and  about  $2,000,000  in  mortgages ;  Wabash  has 
property  of  $362,000,  of  which  $18,000  are  in  build- 
ings, $21,000  in  bonds,  $323,000  in  mortgages ;  the 
University  of  California  has  somewhat  more  than 
$2,000,000,  equally  divided  between  bonds  and 
mortgages;  Wesleyan  University  has  $1,125,000, 
of  which  $81,000  are  in  real  estate,  $260,000  in 
bonds,  $77,000  in  stocks,  $686,000  in  mortgages; 
of  the  $3,000,000  possessed  by  Northwestern  Uni- 
versity, $150,000  are  represented  in  buildings, 
bonds,  and  mortgages,  and  the  balance  is  embodied 
in  lands  and  leases ;  the  property  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  more  than  $2,500,000,  is  divided 
into  $357,000  in  buildings,  $514,000  in  bonds, 
$127,000  in  stocks,  $429,000  in  mortgages,  and  the 

157 


Financial  Relations 

remaining  $1,000,000  is,  as  the  treasurer  describes, 
"in  other  values."  Harvard's  immense  property 
is  changed  in  the  forms  of  its  investments  more 
frequently  than  the  property  of  many  colleges; 
but  of  its  ten  or  more  millions,  railroad  bonds  and 
real  estate  represent  the  larger  share,  the  amount 
of  bonds  exceeding  the  value  of  real  estate.  These 
figures  are  representative  of  general  conditions, 
for  changes  are  made  every  year  and  every  month 
in  college  as  in  other  investments. 

The  college  has  no  right  to  run  financial  risks; 
its  funds  are  trust  funds.  Unlike  certain  other 
large  investors,  too,  the  college  regards  regularity 
in  the  receipt  of  its  income  as  of  extreme  impor- 
tance. Its  expenses  consist  largely  of  the  cost  of 
instruction.  The  gentlemen  who  give  instruction 
are  usually  without  other  source  of  income  than 
their  salaries.  The  man  worth  a  million  may  in- 
vest his  million  in  bonds  which  may  defer  pay- 
ment of  coupons  five  years  without  special 
inconvenience  to  himself.  The  college  worth  a 
million  could  not  defer  the  interest  of  its  bonds 
five  years  without  disaster.  Colleges  cannot  afford 
to  have  their  income  depend  upon  commercial 
fluctuations. 

President  Eliot  was  asked,  some  years  ago,  why 
Harvard  was  putting  so  much  money  into  real 
estate  in  Boston.  His  reply  was  that  though  the 
rate  of  income  was  low, — about  four  per  cent.,— 
and  though  the  buildings  were  subjected  to  all 
sorts  of  charges,  yet  the  increase  in  value  served 
to  make  good,  and  more  than  good,  the  low  rate 

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of  income.  Most  colleges,  however,  have  not  seen 
fit  to  secure  real  estate  for  the  purpose  of  produc- 
ing an  income.  Real  estate  represents,  for  most 
institutions,  rather  an  annoying  kind  of  invest- 
ment. Moreover,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  in- 
come of  most  real  estate  is  more  or  less  contingent. 
We  must  grant,  too,  that  the  possibility  of  increase 
in  the  value  of  real  property  carries  along  with 
itself  the  possibility  of  decrease. 

On  the  whole,  the  securities  which  the  colleges 
own  are  the  best  of  the  second  order  of  investments. 
Colleges  have  few  United  States  and  few  State  and 
few  municipal  bonds;  but  they  do  own  large 
amounts  of  the  best  railroad  bonds  and  of  the 
bonds  of  waterworks  companies,  somewhat  also  of 
the  bonds  of  street-railways,  and  also  small 
amounts  of  the  bonds  of  the  counties  of  Western 
States.  As  my  eye  runs  down  the  list  of  securities 
of  Cornell  University,  for  instance,  I  find  a  record 
of  county  bonds  in  several  Western  States,  as  well 
as  railroad  bonds,  but  county  bonds  seem  to  pre- 
dominate. Turning  to  a  college  of  quite  a  different 
position  and  history,  Washington  and  Lee,  in  Vir- 
ginia, I  find  that,  out  of  $628,000,  $234,000  are 
invested  in  securities  of  the  State  of  Virginia; 
that  town  and  county  bonds  are  represented  by  a 
few  thousand  dollars;  and  that  railroads  in  the 
South  represent  the  larger  part  of  the  balance.  A 
college  of  a  different  environment  and  condition  is 
Rochester  University,  New  York.  Of  its  $1,200,- 
000,  $335,000  are  in  railroad  bonds. 

The  real-estate  mortgages  which  colleges  own 

'59 


Financial  Relations 

represent,  in  my  judgment,  a  better  class  of  in- 
vestments. These  mortgages  are,  with  certain 
exceptions,  placed  usually  on  property  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  college  itself.  The  officers  of 
the  college,  therefore,  know  the  value  of  the  secur- 
ity, and  also  the  general  responsibility  of  the 
owner  who  gives  the  mortgage.  If  a  college  is  sit- 
uated in  a  city,  its  money  is  lent  frequently  on 
real  property  within  the  city  itself.  Adelbert  Col- 
lege, of  "Western  Reserve  University,  lends  money 
on  notes  secured  by  mortgages  on  property  in  the 
city  of  Cleveland,  and  it  lends  little  or  none  on 
property  outside.  If  a  college  is  located  in  a  small 
town  in  a  newer  State  of  the  West,  it  usually  lends 
on  the  security  offered  by  farms  within  a  radius  of 
fifty  miles.  Carleton  College,  in  Minnesota,  lends 
on  mortgages  placed  on  farms  near  Northfield; 
Iowa  on  farms  near  Grinnell;  Wabash  on  mort- 
gages covering  farms  near  Crawf ordsville ;  and 
Ohio  Wesleyan  on  mortgages  on  farms  situated 
near  Delaware. 

The  New  England  colleges  do  not  usually  pos- 
sess the  advantage  of  lending  money  in  large 
amounts  at  good  rates  on  mortgages  on  property 
located  near  by.  Several  of  them  have  sent  large 
amounts  of  money  into  the  West,  into  Western 
cities,  and  on  to  Western  farms.  Several  of  these 
colleges  have  made  these  ventures  in  the  face  of 
great  doubt  on  the  part  of  their  more  conservative 
Trustees.  But  the  security  offered  in  a  State  like 
Minnesota  may  be  as  good  as  that  offered  in  a 
State  as  old  as  Massachusetts;  and  the  security 

1 60 


Financial  Relations 

offered  through  business  property  in  Minneapolis 
may  be  better  than  that  offered  through  a  farm  in 
Maine.  The  hinge  of  the  whole  matter  is  that  the 
agent  who  invests  funds  for  a  college  should  be  a 
good  judge  of  values,  both  material  and  personal. 
A  few  colleges  are  known  to  me  as  having  invested 
heavily  a  few  years  ago  in  mortgages  on  Western 
farms.  The  principal  of  not  a  few  of  these  loans 
was  too  large.  These  colleges,  therefore,  have 
found  themselves  in  difficulties  through  a  failure 
of  interest,  and  also  through  being  obliged  to  pay 
the  taxes  on  farms  to  save  the  farms  from  becom- 
ing absolutely  lost;  and,  alas !  it  has  proved  to  be 
better  in  certain  cases  to  lose  the  farms. 

Among  the  questions  which  I  have  asked  four 
hundred  colleges  is:  "Do  you  know  of  college 
funds  impaired  through  bad  investments  or 
through  expenditure  for  current  expenses  ? "  With 
only  a  few  exceptions,  the  answer  has  been  an  ab- 
solute negative.  One  college  treasurer  says :  "  Of 
recent  years  our  endowment  funds  have  remained 
intact."  Another  treasurer  writes:  "We  do  not 
use  college  funds  for  current  expenses,  but  have 
made  some  poor  investments  in  Western  lands." 
Another  says :  "  Not  to  any  extent."  Another  says : 
"  In  twenty-three  years  we  have  not  impaired  our 
funds  through  bad  investments.  We  have  used 
very  little  of  the  permanent  fund  for  current  ex- 
penses." Although  few  colleges  may  be  able  to 
return  so  good  a  report  as  comes  from  the  Board 
of  Regents  of  the  University  of  California, — "Ex- 
penditures have  never  reached  income;  we  never 
11  161 


Financial  Relations 

expend  money  or  create  financial  obligations  unless 
we  have  the  money  on  hand  or  assured," — yet  it  is 
apparent  that  the  funds  of  the  American  college 
have,  on  the  whole,  been  well  preserved. 

It  is,  therefore,  just  to  infer  that  the  great  sum 
of  $150,000,000  intrusted  to  the  American  colleges 
is  invested  well— well  in  point  of  security,  well, 
also,  in  point  of  income.  This  result  is  secured 
through  the  ability  of  the  colleges  to  call  into  their 
service  the  ablest  financiers.  The  Trustees  repre- 
sent the  best  brain  and  the  purest  character. 
Harvard  College,  the  colleges  in  New  York  city, 
the  colleges  in  Cleveland,  the  colleges  in  Chicago, — 
to  go  no  farther  West, — have  been  able  to  retain 
the  services  of  the  best  men  in  their  communities. 
The  financial  management  of  the  colleges  in  the 
United  States  has,  on  the  whole,  been  abler  than 
the  management  of  the  banks  of  the  United  States. 
The  University  of  California,  for  instance,  never 
made  a  bad  investment  but  once,  and  that  of  only 
$22,000.  "  We  then,"  says  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Regents,  "  bought  bonds  of  that  amount  which 
had  been  pronounced  good  by  the  Supreme  Court 
of  this  State.  The  same  bonds  were  subsequently 
pronounced  unconstitutional  by  another  Supreme 
Court."  In  a  word,  there  is  no  investment  so  safe, 
there  is  no  investment  so  certain  of  rendering  the 
service  which  it  is  ordained  to  render,  as  money 
intrusted  to  a  well-established  college. 

The  American  college  is  rich  because  of  its  en- 
richment made  through  its  friends.  It  is  only  a 
money-receiving  institution,  not  a  money-making 

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agency.  Occasionally  a  college  has  tried  to  make 
money.  In  some  instances  the  trial  has  resulted 
favorably,  in  other  cases  in  loss.  I  now  recall  the 
case  of  a  college,  which,  through  the  endeavor  of 
a  former  President  to  make  money  by  real-estate 
speculation,  was  driven  to  the  brink  of  bank- 
ruptcy—a condition  from  which  it  has  gallantly 
recovered.  The  lottery  was  a  very  common  form 
of  college  beneficence  in  the  early  part  of  the  cen- 
tury. Nearly  all  colleges  then  existing  received 
money  in  this  way.  Stoughton  Hall  and  Hol- 
worthy,  at  Cambridge,  were  erected  from  the  pro- 
ceeds of  lotteries.  In  fact,  a  lottery  for  the  benefit 
of  Harvard  was  established  as  early  as  1745,  and 
another  in  1794 ;  in  the  latter  lottery  the  college 
held  the  lucky  ticket  and  drew  a  prize  of  $10,000. 
On  April  13,  1814,  the  legislature  of  the  State  of 
New  York  passed  an  act  granting  the  following 
sums  to  three  colleges  and  a  church:  to  Union 
College  $200,000,  to  Hamilton  College  $40,000,  to 
the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  $30,000, 
and  to  Asbury  African  Church,  New  York,  $4000. 
The  State  made  these  grants  on  the  basis  of  secur- 
ing these  sums  from  the  proceeds  of  lotteries. 

The  colleges  are  usually  obliged  to  spend  all  their 
income  year  by  year.  Cornell  has  a  unique  way  of 
reserving  five  per  cent,  of  its  estimated  income  of 
the  coming  year.  If  the  year,  when  it  is  passed, 
show  a  surplus,  the  surplus  goes  into  the  fund 
available  for  the  year  yet  to  follow — as  excellent  a 
way  as  it  is  uncommon,  and  one  quite  certain  of 
resulting  in  the  abolition  of  the  too  common  deficit. 

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Financial  Relations 

For  a  deficit  is  common  in  the  college  budget.  It 
is  usually  not  large ;  it  is  usually,  too,  made  up  at 
once  by  Trustees  and  friends :  but  it  is  common 
alike  in  the  college  and  the  church.  I  find  only 
occasional  instances  in  which  the  deficit  is  allowed 
to  stand.  "  It  is,"  one  treasurer  remarks,  "  carried 
over."  But  such  carrying  over  is  simply  eating 
up  one's  seed-corn,  and  such  devouring  cannot 
continue  long  without  disaster. 

Income  is  spent  in  two  great  forms — that  of  in- 
struction and  that  of  administration.  The  divi- 
sion of  expense  between  these  two  departments 
differs  largely  in  different  colleges.  In  the  Uni- 
versity of  California  four-fifths  of  the  income  is 
devoted  to  instruction,  one-fifth  to  administration : 
in  Northwestern  University  seventy  per  cent,  to 
instruction  and  thirty  to  administration.  In  the 
University  of  Michigan  two-thirds  goes  to  instruc- 
tion, one-third  to  administration.  These  figures, 
taken  from  reports  of  college  treasurers,  may,  how- 
ever, represent  different  bases.  It  is  a  question, 
for  instance,  whether  the  salary  of  the  President 
who  gives  a  small  amount  of  instruction,  but  whose 
duties  are  also  administrative,  should  be  charged 
to  the  account  of  instruction  or  of  administration. 
Treasurers  also  differ  as  to  whether  repairs  and  in- 
surance are  included  in  administration.  It  would 
be  hard  to  include  them  in  the  cost  of  instruction. 
But  these  figures  are  sufficient  to  show  that  the 
large  part  of  the  income  of  each  college  is  devoted 
to  securing  instruction. 

The  salaries  paid  in  the  college  are  usually  low. 

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Financial  Relations 

"  There  are  iron-mills  in  this  country  whose  entire 
laboring  force  is  paid  at  an  average  rate  quite  as 
high  as  that  of  the  salaries  paid  by  some  of  our 
colleges." ]  The  salary  of  the  most  highly  paid 
professors  in  American  colleges  considered  in  the 
aggregate  is  about  two  thousand  dollars,  and  the 
salary  of  other  professors  a'bout  fifteen  hundred 
dollars.  The  average  number  of  members  in  the 
Faculty  of  American  colleges,  taking  one  hundred 
and  twenty-four  colleges  as  a  basis,  is  sixteen  and 
one-half  persons.  These  figures  represent  the 
point  of  the  application  of  the  largest  part  of  the 
income  of  college  funds.  Two  or  three  colleges  are 
paying  to  a  few  teachers  salaries  of  seven  thousand 
dollars,  and  perhaps  ten  colleges  are  paying  four 
thousand  dollars  at  least.  The  present  tendency  is 
toward  an  increase  of  the  highest  salaries  and  toward 
a  decrease  of  the  stipend  of  new  instructors. 

The  increase  in  the  funds  of  American  colleges 
has  been  exceedingly  rapid  within  the  lifetime  of 
the  older  men  now  living.  In  the  year  1830  the  first 
printed  statement  of  the  finances  of  Yale  College 
was  made.  At  that  time  the  total  productive  fund, 
not  including  land,  amounted  to  only  $30,856.26. 
There  were  liabilities  standing  against  the  college 
amounting  to  $13,000.  The  net  total  productive 
fund  of  the  college  was,  therefore,  only  $17,856.26. 
The  total  income  from  funds  that  year  was 
$2673.66.  In  1831  the  receipts  from  all  sources, 
including  tuition,  were  $19,674.87;   the  expenses 

1  "  The  Pay  of  American  College  Professors,"  by  President  W.  E. 
Harper,  in  "The  Forum,"  Vol.  XVI,  p.103. 

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Financial  Relations 

were  $20,208.38.  In  1832  the  receipts  increased  to 
eight  cents  more  than  $20,000,  and  the  expenses 
increased  to  $23,028.87.  The  income  from  fnnds 
of  1832  was  $2555.86.  In  1879  the  fnnds  of  the 
academical  department  had  increased  to  $700,000, 
the  fnnds  of  the  theological  department  to 
about  $300,000,  of  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School 
to  $165,000,  of  the  Medical  to  a  little  over  $21,000, 
and  the  University  fund  to  a  little  over  $230,000. 
The  income  from  all  sources  for  the  year  ending 
June  30,  1876,  was  over  $300,000.  In  1890  the 
entire  productive  funds  of  Yale  College  had  in- 
creased to  an  amount  double  that  possessed  in 
1876,  and  since  that  time  there  have  been  great 
additions  made,  also,  to  its  interest-bearing  prop- 
erty. These  additions  still  continue,  and  will  con- 
tinue in  enlarging  sums.  Harvard  began  to  come 
into  its  wealth  when  it  was  far  less  old  than  Yale, 
but  its  riches  in  its  first  two  centuries  were  rather 
poverty  than  wealth.  The  amount  of  money  given 
to  Harvard  during  the  seventeenth  century  was 
£6134  16s.  lOd.  The  amount  of  money  given  to 
Harvard  in  the  eighteenth  century  aggregated  about 
£27,000.  In  the  year  1840  the  whole  amount  of 
the  productive  funds  of  the  college  was  $646,235.17, 
and  the  entire  income  from  all  sources  was  $45,- 
535.71.  At  the  present  time  the  annual  income 
from  all  sources  of  Harvard  exceeds  a  million,  and 
the  addition  annually  made  to  its  permanent  funds 
in  recent  years  has  also  exceeded  a  million  dollars. 
By  the  side  of  these  statements  it  is  fitting  to 
lay  down  .statements  as  to  the  two  great  English 

1 66 


Financial  Relations 

universities.  The  reports  show  that  for  the  year 
ending  with  December,  1893,  the  income  of  the 
University  of  Oxford,  apart  from  the  colleges,  was 
almost  £66,000,  and  the  income  of  her  twenty  col- 
leges was  £439,606,  ranging  from  £7192  at  Hert- 
ford College,  to  nearly  £60,000  at  Magdalen  College 
and  Christ  Church — an  average  of  £21,980  to  each 
college.  The  income  of  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge is  not  stated  in  the  reports  made  to  the 
Vice-Chancellor,  but  the  income  of  her  seventeen 
colleges  was  £295,247,  ranging  from  £4119  at  Mag- 
dalen College  to  £76,523  at  Trinity — an  average 
of  £17,367  to  each  college.  The  income  of  the 
wealthier  colleges  of  these  universities,  drawn  from 
funds,  is  far  in  excess  of  the  income  of  the  wealth- 
ier American  colleges  derived  from  the  same 
source.  The  income  of  the  less  wealthy  is  about 
the  same  as  that  of  the  ordinary  New  England 
college.1 

The  German  university  is  more  of  a  state  insti- 
tution than  the  English  university.  The  govern- 
ment is  directly  pledged  to  its  support.  At  least 
three  German  universities,  Leipzig,  Heidelberg,  and 
Greifswald,  have  property  of  their  own,  but  the 
larger  part  draw  their  annual  revenue  from  the 
governmental  chest.  Professors  are  paid  both  from 
this  fund  and  from  the  fees  of  students. 

It  has  long  been  the  judgment  of  the  writer  that 

1  These  statements  are  based  on  "Abstracts  of  the  Accounts," 
published  in  the  case  of  Cambridge  in  the  "  University  Reporter, " 
and  in  the  case  of  Oxford  by  the  Clarendon  Press ;  and  on  compen- 
diums  made  by  Professor  B.  A.  Hinsdale  of  the  University  of 
Michigan,  and  published  in  the  "University  Record." 

167 


Financial  Relations 

colleges  should  publish  each  year,  for  distribution 
among  their  constituents,  a  complete  and  detailed 
statement  of  their  financial  condition  and  rela- 
tions. Colleges  are  public  institutions.  If  the  ma- 
jority of  them  are  legally  and  technically  private 
corporations,  they  essentially  belong  to  the  people. 
They  appeal  to  the  people  for  endowment  and  also 
for  the  privilege  of  offering  instruction.  They 
have  no  proper  right  to  make  an  appeal  for  funds 
to  the  people  unless  they  exhibit  to  the  people  the 
use  that  they  have  made  of  funds  already  received. 
It  cannot  be  doubted  that  such  a  public  statement 
would  tend  to  awaken  public  confidence  in  the 
financial  integrity  and  ability  of  the  college.  The 
evil  influence  of  occasional  lapses  is  overcome  by 
the  generally  excellent  record  of  investment.  Let 
the  American  college  take  the  American  people 
into  its  confidence,  and  it  will  find  it  much  easier 
to  get  hold  of  the  American  purse. 

I  venture  to  make  a  further  suggestion  as  to  the 
method  of  investment.  Among  the  questions 
which  I  have  asked  the  colleges  is  this:  "Are 
funds,  given  for  certain  specific  purposes,  in- 
vested by  themselves,  or  are  all  funds  pooled  in 
general  investments,  the  bookkeeping  showing 
where  specific  funds  belong  ? "  Colleges  range  them- 
selves on  each  side  of  the  answer  to  this  question. 
Many  colleges  invest  amounts  given  for  specific 
purposes  by  and  of  themselves;  but  certain  ones 
do  "pool"  all  moneys,  although  the  bookkeeping 
shows  where  specific  funds  are.  It  certainly  would 
be  better,   for  certain   reasons,   to   invest  funds 

1 68 


Financial  Relations 

given  for  specific  purposes  by  themselves ;  for,  in 
the  course  of  centuries,  funds  that  are  thus  put 
into  one  common  box  might  fail  of  the  specific 
purpose  for  which  they  were  intended.  Such  limi- 
tations might  occasionally  result  in  less  income, 
but  they  would  result  also,  I  think,  in  a  larger  de- 
gree of  confidence  in  the  power  of  the  American 
college  to  keep  its  specific  obligations.  Yet  funds 
invested  separately  run  a  greater  risk  of  being 
completely  lost,  for  it  is  hard  to  conceive  of  the 
general  endowment  becoming  seriously  impaired, 
but  it  is  easy  to  conceive  that  a  single  fund  might 
be  entirely  lost. 

II 

OKIGIN  AND  CONDITIONS  OF  ENDOWMENT 

Of  the  large  amount  of  money  which  each  year 
is  given  by  men  in  the  cause  of  beneficence,  only 
a  very  small  share  is  the  result  of  inheritance. 
Every  dollar  has  usually  been  earned  and  saved  by 
the  giver  of  that  dollar.  If  one  should  set  down 
the  names  of  fifty  men  who  are  distinguished  for 
works  of  charity,  not  more  than  ten  would  be 
found  to  have  inherited  the  larger  part  of  the 
wealth  which  they  bestow.  The  reason  is  not  far 
to  seek  and  is  manifold.  Inherited  wealth  usually 
brings  along  with  itself  burdens.  It  inherits  houses 
in  city  and  country  which  must  be  kept  open,  and 
yachts  which  must  be  kept  sailing,  or  at  least  in 
repair.     It  inherits  dependents  and  dependencies 

169 


Financial  Relations 

of  various  sorts  which  must  be  supported.  It  in- 
herits a  scale  of  expenditure  which  cannot  easily 
be  changed.  Inherited  wealth,  too,  is  frequently 
invested  in  forms  of  property  which  make  but  a 
small  percentage  of  returns.  Inherited  wealth  sel- 
dom increases  in  that  ratio  in  which  it  was  origi- 
nally made.  The  heir,  too,  of  inherited  wealth 
may  not  feel  that  freedom  in  the  bestowal  of  it 
which  he  would  feel  in  the  use  of  riches  which  he 
himself  had  created. 

The  wealth  which  has  founded  and  endowed  col- 
leges, which  has  built  libraries  and  art  museums, 
which  has  established  institutions  for  practical 
education,  and  hospitals  for  the  sick,  and  parks  for 
the  strong,  has  been,  and  usually  is,  wealth  which 
its  possessor  and  giver  had  himself  made.  An  ex- 
ception is  at  once  to  be  made  in  the  case  of  women. 
I  have  said  that  the  large  amount  of  the  money 
that  men  give  in  beneficence  is  money  which  they 
themselves  have  saved,  but  the  larger  part  of 
wealth  which  women  bestow  in  beneficence  is 
wealth  which  they  themselves  have  inherited.  As 
society  is  now  constituted  women  are  not  makers 
of  money,  and  as  society  is  now  constituted,  and 
is  becoming  more  and  more  constituted,  women 
are  the  receivers  and  the  givers  of  money.  The 
larger  part  of  the  money  which  women  are  using 
in  beneficence  is  money  which  they  have  inherited 
from  their  husbands  or  fathers.  And,  be  it  said, 
fully  one-third  of  the  money  that  is  given  to-day 
in  charity  or  education  is  given  by  women. 
Women    are    becoming   the    possessors    of   great 

170 


Financial  Relations 

property,  and  they  are  also  becoming  the  great 
benefactors  of  humanity. 

Some  of  the  characteristics  of  the  wealth  that 
has  been  bestowed  for  public  uses  and  for  educa- 
tional uses  are  significant. 

It  is,  of  course,  to  be  said  that  wealth  given  in 
large  amounts  is  given  from  wealth  possessed  in 
large  amounts.  Great  beneficences  are  drawn  from 
great  fortunes.  It  is  also  to  be  said  that  these 
great  fortunes  have  been  created  in  almost  every 
one  of  the  great  commercial  undertakings  of  the 
modern  world.  As  one's  eye  runs  over  the  list 
it  is  found  that  the  building  and  administration 
of  railways,  the  manufacture  of  lumber,  of  iron, 
of  cloths  (cotton  and  woolen),  of  thread,  of  beer,  of 
sugar,  of  leather,  of  glue,  of  flour,  the  refining  of 
oil,  the  packing  of  meat,  and  the  sailing  of  ships 
and  the  carrying  of  packages  by  express,  repre- 
sent the  larger  part  of  the  processes  by  which  these 
fortunes  have  been  made.  Of  all  these  and  of  the 
other  various  forms  of  endeavor,  railroads,  lumber, 
iron,  and  oil  represent  the  accumulations  which 
have  most  largely  contributed  to  human  better- 
ment. They  embody  enterprises  of  many  and 
complex  relationships.  They  require  in  their  ad- 
ministration the  highest  qualities  of  human  char- 
acter. Soundness  of  judgment,  foresight,  boldness, 
independence  of  will,  appreciation  of  public  needs 
and  desires,  and  the  power  to  make  many  and  fre- 
quently divergent  interests  converge  to  one  su- 
preme end,  are  elements  of  the  mind  required  for 
the  carrying  forward  of  such  great  undertakings 

171 


Financial  Relations 

as  continental  railroads,  as  immense  iron-mines 
and  -foundries,  and  as  the  diverse  and  tremendous 
operations  in  the  lumber  and  oil  industries.  Trade 
has  not  proved  to  be  so  large  a  source  of  benefi- 
cence as  manufacturing,  and,  outside  of  two  or 
three  donations  or  bequests,  the  professions  have 
not  made  large  contributions  of  money  to  human 
betterment.  Possibly  the  business  of  banking 
ought  to  rank  next  to  the  kinds  of  business  that 
I  have  noted  as  being  the  largest  sources  of 
beneficence ;  for  banking  has  been,  indirectly  and 
directly,  a  source  of  large  income.  Not  a  few  of 
the  benefactors  who  have  made  their  homes  in 
Baltimore,  and  who  laid  the  foundations  of  their 
fortunes  in  shipping  or  mercantile  pursuits,  have 
increased  their  holdings  through  engaging  in  the 
business  of  banking.  The  banking  business  has 
contributed  large  amounts  to  Columbia  University 
and  Drexel  Institute,  to  Union  Theological  Sem- 
inary, to  Yale  College  and  to  Harvard.  It  is  not 
to  be  forgotten  that  Mr.  George  Peabody,  the 
earliest  of  the  general  and  great  benefactors,  made 
his  large  fortune  largely  in  banking.  The  indus- 
tries that  have  furnished  large  endowments  are 
those  of  oil  (to  the  University  of  Chicago  and  to 
Pratt  Institute  in  Brooklyn),  of  lumber  (to  Cor- 
nell), and  that  of  iron  (in  the  foundation  of  music- 
halls,  art  museums,  and  libraries  which  bear  the 
name  of  Carnegie).  The  sugar  industry  is  the 
source  of  large  beneficence  to  Columbia  University 
and  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  Mr.  Fayer- 
weather  made   the    millions   which   he   gave    to 

172 


Financial  Relations 

twenty  and  more  institutions  of  learning  in  the 
business  of  tanning.  The  making  of  reapers  and 
harvesters  represents  the  financial  foundation  of 
the  theological  seminary  in  Chicago  which  bears 
the  name  of  McCormick,  and  the  gift  of  half  a  mil- 
lion dollars  to  Northwestern  University.  Harvard 
has,  in  the  middle  part  of  the  present  century,  and 
again  more  recently  through  the  benefactions  of 
Edward  Austin,  received  great  gifts  from  the 
China  and  East  India  trade.  In  fact,  in  the  earlier 
decades  of  the  century,  the  China  and  East  India 
trade  was  almost  the  only  means  for  making  great 
amounts  of  money,  and  the  colleges,  in  common 
with  all  charities,  were  beneficiaries  of  it.  In  the 
last  half  of  the  century  the  railroad  has  supplanted 
the  ship  as  a  means  of  making  money  both  for  its 
owner  and  for  the  cause  of  charity.  The  railroad 
has  been,  on  the  whole,  the  source  of  the  largest 
amount  of  beneficence. 

The  great  gifts  to  colleges  have  usually  been 
made  by  those  who  are  not  themselves  graduates 
of  colleges.  In  the  former  time  most  college  gradu- 
ates entered  the  professions,  and,  therefore,  were 
not  in  the  way  of  securing  fortunes  sufficiently 
ample  to  warrant  the  bestowal  of  large  sums  in 
charity.  In  fact,  the  absence  of  college  names  is 
rather  significant.  Although  in  the  earlier  time 
college  men  were  not  money-makers,  in  the  last 
ten  or  fifteen  years  they  have  been  entering 
kinds  of  business  which  are  remunerative.  From 
a  third  to  a  fifth  of  the  graduates  of  our  colleges 
are  now  becoming  members  of  the  money-making 

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Financial  Relations 

callings.  But  it  may  be  said  that  most  of  these 
graduates  have  not  been  long  enough  in  business 
to  become  benefactors.  It  will  be  interesting  to 
see  whether  those  who  have  been  beneficiaries  of 
our  colleges,  coming  to  possess  ample  means  of  their 
own,  will  themselves  become  benefactors.  About 
one-half  of  the  great  benefactions  which  Har- 
vard College  has  received  in  the  last  thirty  years 
has  been  made  by  those  who  are  its  sons.  But 
the  simple  fact  is  that  at  the  present  time  the 
names  which  represent  the  largest  benefactors  of 
the  colleges  are  the  names  of  those  who  have  arisen 
from  penury  to  the  possession  of  large  wealth. 
Not  long  ago  the  founder  of  the  University  of 
Chicago  was  working  in  Cleveland  for  a  salary  of 
five  hundred  dollars.  The  builder  of  the  library 
for  one  of  the  universities  of  Ohio  said  to  me 
that  he  came  to  Cleveland  with  just  a  dollar  in  his 
purse.  Dr.  D.  K.  Pearsons,  who  has  given  several 
million  dollars  to  a  score  of  institutions  from  the 
Columbia  to  the  Connecticut,  went  into  the  West 
with  hardly  more  than  a  bare  competency.  Has 
not  Andrew  Carnegie,  too,  told  us  of  his  working 
for  a  few  dollars  a  week?  Did  not  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Williston  of  Easthampton  begin  by  covering  but- 
tons by  hand?  With  a  spare  suit  of  clothes  and 
a  few  dollars  in  his  pocket,  Ezra  Cornell  entered 
Ithaca  on  foot,  having  walked  from  his  father's 
house,  a  distance  of  about  forty  miles.1  And 
the  great  associates  of  Cornell  in  the  establish- 
ment  of  the  university  bearing  his  name  were 

1  Biography  of  Ezra  Cornell,  p.  45. 
'74 


Financial  Relations 

with  a  single  exception  originally  as  poor  in  purse 
as  was  he.  It  is  to  the  men  of  the  self-made  type 
that  the  American  college  and  all  American  char- 
ities are  most  deeply  indebted.  These  benefactors 
have  often  expressed  the  thought  that  they  had 
given  money  to  colleges  in  order  that  life  might  be 
easier  for  boys  and  girls  than  it  had  been  for  them- 
selves, and  that  the  boys  and  girls  of  the  future 
might  have  more  worthy  care  than  they  them- 
selves had  enjoyed.  The  man  who  has  had  a  col- 
lege education  appreciates  it  much.  I  sometimes 
think  that  a  man  who  has  not  had  a  college  educa- 
tion appreciates  it  even  more,  and  is  therefore 
willing  to  do  more  in  order  that  others  may  have 
an  education  than  the  man  who  has  himself  en- 
joyed it  is  willing  to  do. 

The  mental  and  moral  conditions  out  of  which 
have  been  created  great  fortunes  are  the  conditions 
also  out  of  which  have  come  the  great  gifts  or  be- 
quests from  these  fortunes.  If  foresight  and  judg- 
ment and  energy  are  required  to  make  great 
amounts  of  money,  foresight  and  judgment  are  no 
less  required  in  the  worthy  bestowal  of  large  gifts. 
Judge  F.  M.  Finch,  in  making  a  memorial  address 
on  Henry  Williams  Sage,  said :  "He  learned  his 
lessons  thoroughly:  every  man  in  his  place  and 
every  duty  at  its  time ;  perfect  method  and  rigor- 
ous system  everywhere;  the  rule  of  a  master, 
kindly  but  resolute  and  unflinching;  nothing  too 
small  to  be  overlooked ;  never  an  atom  of  waste  in 
any  direction ;  tireless  industry ;  utter  devotion  to 
the  task  in  hand;  no  pardon  for  laziness;  no  en- 

175 


Financial  Relations 

durance  of  careless  neglect ;  ev^ery  moment  utilized, 
and  every  hour  brimmed  with  its  work.  That  was 
the  training  which  he  had  and  the  lesson  of  man- 
hood that  he  learned.  It  left  indelible  marks  upon 
his  life,  sure  to  show  themselves  in  his  after 
career."1  Such  qualities  of  vigor,  alertness,  can- 
dor, foresight,  and  economy  are  the  qualities  ever 
necessary  for  the  bestowing  of  wealth.  The  wise 
man  seldom  gives  in  a  hurry.  If  he  does,  he  usu- 
ally lives  to  repent  his  haste.  The  wise  man  gives 
with  large  vision  and  exact  knowledge  of  all  con- 
ditions. I  know  of  a  gentleman  who  had  deter- 
mined to  give  away  more  than  half  a  million 
dollars  in  educational  beneficence.  His  lawyer  has 
recited  to  me  the  care  that  was  taken  in  determin- 
ing the  purposes  for  which  the  wealth  should  be 
given,  and,  when  the  purposes  had  been  deter- 
mined, in  selecting  what  agency  should  be  chosen 
to  carry  out  the  purposes.  The  charters  of  the 
institutions,  the  laws  of  the  States  in  which  they 
were  situated,  the  personality  of  the  boards  of 
trust,  the  methods  followed  by  the  boards  of 
trust  in  the  investment  of  funds — these  and  simi- 
lar matters  were  examined  for  a  long  time  and 
with  much  care.  It  is  known  that  for  years  previ- 
ous to  the  foundation  of  the  University  of  Chi- 
cago, the  leaders  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  the 
United  States  were  questioning  as  to  the  best  place 
to  establish  a  national  university  under  the  charge 
of  the  Baptist  Church.     The  choosing  of  Chicago 

1  "In   Memory  of  Henry  Williams  Sage"  (published  by  Cornell 
University,  1898),  p.  32. 

176 


Financial  Relations 

was  the  result  of  long  and  serious  deliberation. 
The  announcement  of  the  great  benefactions  of 
Mr.  D.  B.  Fay er weather  was  a  surprise  to  the 
whole  country,  and  even  to  his  nearest  neighbors ; 
but  years  previous  to  his  death  Mr.  Fayerweather 
had  consulted  Dr.  Roswell  D.  Hitchcock  with  ref- 
erence to  many  of  the  colleges  which  he  made  his 
beneficiaries.  America  is  distinguished  for  the 
public  beneficence  of  its  rich  men ;  but  it  is  always 
and  clearly  to  be  said  that  the  rich  men  of  America 
who  give  money  to  public  uses  usually  give  it  with 
the  same  foresight  and  judgment  in  and  through 
which  they  have  acquired  the  same  wealth. 

It  is  also  to  be  said  that  the  beneficence  to  the 
American  college  or  to  any  institution  of  public 
welfare  is  usually  local.  The  largest  part  of  the 
money  is  given  by  men  who  live  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  institution  which  is  benefited.  Most 
of  the  money,  except  that  bestowed  by  its  great 
benefactor,  given  to  the  University  of  Chicago  has 
come  from  Chicago.  The  largest  part  of  the 
money  that  has  been  received  by  Columbia  in 
recent  years  has  come  from  New  York.  The 
largest  part  of  the  money  given  to  Harvard  has 
come  from  Boston.  The  largest  part  of  the  money 
given  to  Western  Reserve  and  Adelbert  has  had 
its  source  in  Cleveland.  It  is  significant  that  of 
the  million  and  a  third  raised  for  the  Sesquicenten- 
nial  Fund  of  Princeton  not  a  single  dollar  is  re- 
ported as  having  been  given  by  anybody  resident 
in  New  England.  The  gifts  to  Leland  Stanford 
University  came,  of  course,  from  the  gift  of  one 

12  1 77 


Financial  Relations 

who  converted  his  home  into  a  site  for  the  uni- 
versity ;  and  the  beneficences  of  the  University  of 
California  have  come  quite  largely  from  those  liv- 
ing in  or  near  San  Francisco.  Of  course  there  are 
exceptions  to  this  rule  as  to  the  local  character  of 
beneficences.  These  exceptions  are  usually  found 
in  the  cases  of  the  new  mission  colleges.  Colleges 
founded  in  the  new  States  or  in  new  cities  must 
secure  their  endowment  from  the  old  States  and 
the  older  cities.  The  newer  parts  of  the  country 
draw  upon  the  older  for  capital  quite  as  much  for 
beneficence  as  for  the  equipping  of  farms,  the 
building  of  blocks,  and  the  establishing  of  factories. 

The  motives  which  lead  to  educational  or  other 
beneficence  are,  of  course,  manifold.  There  are 
general  motives,  and  there  are  special  and  specific 
motives. 

The  general  motives  are  summed  up  in  the  one 
phrase — the  desire  to  do  good ;  and  possibly  this  mo- 
tive is  the  one  which  moves  the  largest  number  of 
givers.  The  individual  desires  to  give  away  some 
money  in  order  to  do  good,  and  to  him  the  chief 
question  is  to  whom  or  to  what  shall  he  trust  his 
funds.  For  we  are  never  to  forget  that  money  is, 
in  a  sense,  one's  outer  self.  It  represents  the  brain 
and  the  heart  and  the  life  of  the  possessor  and  of  the 
bestower.  Money  takes  on  intellectual  and  moral 
character.  It  is  the  microcosm  of  the  modern 
world.  If  it  came  out  of  brain,  it  buys  brain ;  if  it  is 
the  result  of  character,  it  trains  character ;  if  it  rep- 
resents enthusiasm,  pluck,  economy,  temperance, 
it  trains  these  qualities.     It  is  a  sign  and  symbol 

.78 


Financial  Relations 

of  civilization.  He  who  has  it  has  the  power  of 
creating  civilization  and  of  enhancing  the  value  of 
civilization  through  its  bestowal.  If  what  one  of 
the  Biblical  writers  says,  that  "  the  love  of  money 
is  the  root  of  all  evil,"  is  true,  it  is  also  true  that 
the  use  of  money  is  a  root  of  good. 

In  addition  to  the  general  motive,  special  ones 
are  of  constant  force.  The  memorial  motive  is 
frequent  and  significant.  In  not  a  few  cases  the 
memorial  purpose  has  been  chief  in  the  mind  of 
the  giver.  In  other  instances  it  has  been  to  him 
quite  unconscious,  but  those  whom  he  has  made 
trustees  of  his  beneficence  have  recognized  the 
memorial  purposes.  Three  colleges  of  Maine 
bear  the  names  of  early  benefactors  or  founders, 
and  the  name  of  one  of  these  colleges  was  changed 
from  the  name  of  the  place  of  its  location  to  the 
name  of  its  great  benefactor— Colby.  Dartmouth, 
Williams,  Brown,  Smith,  as  well  as  Harvard  and 
Yale,  bear  into  the  future  the  names  either  of  their 
founders  or  of  those  who  were  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  the  building  of  the  colleges.  Most  col- 
leges are  named  either  after  the  places  of  their 
location  or  after  their  chief  benefactors.  Either 
designation  is  fitting. 

A  college  in  asking  that  the  name  of  its  great 
benefactor  be  given  to  itself  is  asking  only  what  is 
intrinsically  fitting.  The  giver,  too,  of  a  great  gift 
is  not  unduly  influenced  when  he  gives  with  the 
thought  or  with  the  expressed  condition  that  the 
foundation  which  he  makes  be  regarded  either  as 
a  memorial  to  his  family  or  to  some  member  of 

179 


Financial  Relations 

that  family.  Of  course,  when  a  college  itself  be- 
comes a  memorial,  it  is  obliged  to  face  the  inevi- 
table consequences  of  the  cessation  of  gifts  from 
other  sources  for  a  long  time.  It  requires  a  high 
degree  of  graciousness,  in  a  world  which  offers 
manifold  opportunities  for  doing  good  through 
large  giving,  to  bestow  gifts  which  result  in  the 
enhancement  of  the  value  of  family  memorials. 
But  in  a  generation  the  special  character  of  a 
memorial  foundation  becomes  less  and  less  distinct. 
It  was  almost  a  generation  after  Matthew  Vassar 
made  his  foundation  before  other  large  gifts  were 
made,  and  some  of  these  were  from  those  who  bore 
his  own  name.  If  Johns  Hopkins  University  had 
not  borne  the  name  of  its  founder,  the  citizens  of 
Baltimore  might  have  been  more  generally  liberal 
to  it.  If  Chicago  University  were  bearing  the 
name  of  its  founder,  a  great  many  people  of 
Chicago  who  have  given  of  their  wealth  would 
have  been  reluctant  to  support  it.  But  the  years 
bring  obscurity  to  the  memorial  character  of  a  gift. 
Who  would  think  that  in  giving  to  the  University 
at  Cambridge  he  was  laying  a  stone  in  the  monu- 
ment of  John  Harvard,  or  that  in  giving  to  the 
college  at  Hanover  he  was  making  the  name  and 
fame  of  Lord  Dartmouth  more  conspicuous,  or 
that  in  giving  to  Brown  he  was  prolonging  the  sig- 
nificance of  that  family  in  Rhode  Island  and  na- 
tional affairs'? 

Seen  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  one  making 
the  memorial,  a  gift  to  a  college  is  most  fitting.  A 
memorial  should  be  lasting,  and  should  be  beauti- 

180 


Financial  Relations 

ful  in  its  conception  and  circumstances.  The  col- 
lege is  among  the  most  lasting,  if  not  the  most 
lasting,  of  human  institutions;  and  the  college 
stands  for  that  which  is  holy  and  noble  and  great. 
A  memorial  should  have,  too,  in  addition  to  these 
qualities  of  endurance  and  of  beauty,  the  purpose 
of  the  largest  and  highest  influence.  Among 
all  the  institutions  of  mankind,  what  can  be  more 
useful  or  what  is  more  useful  than  a  college? 
These  principles  and  purpose  receive  an  illustration 
in  the  raising  of  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  as  a 
memorial  to  Colonel  George  E.  Waring.  The  in- 
come of  this  sum  is  to  be  given  to  the  family  of 
Colonel  Waring,  and  when  their  need  of  it  has 
ceased,  it  goes  to  Columbia  University  to  be  held 
in  a  fund  bearing  the  name  of  the  great  citizen, 
the  income  of  which  is  to  be  used  in  giving  in- 
struction in  the  science  and  art  of  governing  cities. 
The  endeavor  to  raise  a  large  sum  of  money  to 
found  a  college  in  the  Sudan  in  memory  of  General 
Gordon  represents  the  best  memorial  to  that  in- 
trepid spirit. 

A  motive  or  a  condition  which  is  often  recog- 
nized in  the  making  of  gifts  is  the  desire  for  the 
continuance  or  for  the  enlargement  of  the  work 
with  which  one  has  been  associated.  The  Trustees 
of  a  college  are  in  not  a  few  instances  its  most  gen- 
erous benefactors;  for,  above  all  other  men,  they 
know  its  needs,  the  care  that  is  taken  in  the  invest- 
ment of  funds  and  in  the  expenditure  of  their  in- 
come, and  they  also  know  of  the  value  which 
money  given  to  a  college  possesses.     The  gifts  of 

181 


Financial  Relations 

Mr.  Henry  Williams  Sage  to  Cornell,  of  Mr.  D. 
Willis  James  to  Amherst,  and  of  the  two  or  three 
families  that  have  long  been  associated  with  Prince- 
ton to  that  university,  have  arisen,  at  least  in  part, 
from  the  wish  to  aid  at  the  present  and  in  the 
future  in  the  work  of  a  college  which  they  have 
already  promoted.  In  fact,  the  tendency  to  what 
I  may  call  the  accumulation  of  gifts  is  a  character- 
istic prevailing  among  givers  and  among  their 
beneficiaries.  The  object  to  which  one  has  given 
one  usually  continues  to  aid.  Gifts,  like  invest- 
ments and  like  rivers,  flow  in  the  channels  which 
through  the  centuries  they  have  cut  for  themselves. 
The  religious  and  educational  motive  is  also  a 
power  in  college  beneficence.  The  religious  and 
denominational  foundation  of  most  colleges  has 
called  out  Christian  love  and  enthusiasm.  In 
being  a  denominational  college  a  college  places 
certain  limitations  upon  the  field  whence  it  can 
naturally  and  easily  draw  funds;  but  if  it  limit 
the  extent  of  the  field,  it  may  thus  tend  to  strengthen 
and  deepen  the  claims  which  it  may  make  upon  its 
supporters.  The  Congregational  colleges  which 
have  been  founded  in  the  last  fifty  years  in  the 
immediate  wake  of  the  westward  civilization,  have 
drawn  the  larger  part  of  their  support,  in  their  first 
decades,  from  Boston  and  New  England.  The  rea- 
son is  that  Boston  and  New  England  are,  in  their 
denominational  relations,  largely  Congregational. 
The  money  for  the  Presbyterian  colleges  that 
have  been  founded  in  the  last  fifty  years  in  the 
newer  States  has  been  derived  largely  from  the 

182 


Financial  Relations 

Presbyterian  centers  of  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia. The  names  of  conspicuous  members  of 
these  churches  are  affixed  to  colleges  in  Minnesota, 
Nebraska,  Kansas,  Illinois,  and  other  great  States. 
The  religious-  motive  is  of  highest  importance.  A 
profound  religious  enthusiasm,  united  with  a  wise 
foresight,  has  promoted  the  foundation  of  colleges 
not  only  for  the  preservation  and  progress  of  the 
community,  but  also  for  the  enlargement  and  the 
enrichment  of  the  great  bodies  of  the  Christian 
church.  Both  as  a  cause  and  as  a  result,  every 
church  of  strength  founds  and  endows  colleges,  and, 
too,  both  as  a  result  and  as  a  cause,  every  Qollege 
of  strength  strengthens  the  churches  of  its  name. 

As  society  develops,  and  as  the  means  for  its 
improvement  enlarge  and  become  more  diverse, 
the  place  which  the  denominational  motive  plays 
in  beneficence  naturally  lessens.  The  human  and 
the  humanitarian  motive  comes  to  be  more  signifi- 
cant. For  it  is  recognized  that  the  great  needs  of 
the  community  can  be  filled,  and  filled  most  com- 
pletely, through  the  college.  The  supreme  need 
of  the  world  to-day  is  the  need  of  educated  leader- 
ship. America,  in  particular,  demands  men  of 
judgment.  If  the  conscience  of  the  American 
needs  correcting  somewhat,  the  mind  of  the  Amer- 
ican needs  enlightenment  more.  The  judgment 
which  the  world  needs  to  exercise  in  all  of  its 
great  affairs  is  a  judgment  which  the  college  is  set 
to  train,  and  which  the  college  man  should  embody 
above  every  other  member  of  the  community. 
This  judgment  possesses  certain   significant  ele- 

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Financial  Relations 

inents.  This  judgment  embodies  largeness  and 
a  proper  estimate  of  values,  the  power  to  see  units, 
and  out  of  units  to  construct  unities.  It  embraces 
every  scientific  application  of  observation  and 
every  philosophical  application  of  inference.  It 
is  a  judgment  deliberate  and  deliberative,  sane, 
large,  as  remote  from  being  influenced  by  the  idols 
of  the  market-place,  of  the  forum,  and  of  the  vot- 
ing-booth as  it  is  remote  from  the  smallness  of 
dilettantism.  It  works  with  the  accuracy  of  instru- 
ments of  precision.  It  moves  in  inductions  that 
are  no  less  than  transcendental.  It  is  a  judg- 
ment which  helps  one  to  see  the  principal  as  prin- 
cipal and  the  subordinate  as  subordinate.  It  is  a 
judgment  which  gives  contentment  and  inspira- 
tion, humility  and  the  sense  of  strength.  It  is 
is  a  judgment  which  results  in  adjustment,  making 
one  a  citizen  of  the  world  without  making  one  less 
a  patriot.  It  is  a  judgment,  too,  which  means  self- 
understanding  and  the  understanding  of  all.  It  is 
a  judgment  primarily  intellectual,  and  yet  it  is  not 
simply  intellectual.  It  is  a  judgment  in  which  the 
emotions  have  a  proper  play  and  place,  and  yet  it 
is  not  simply  emotional.  It  is  a  judgment  result- 
ing in  action,  yet  it  is  something  more  by  far  than 
mere  volition.  It  is  a  judgment  in  which  con- 
science has  a  supreme  part,  but  it  represents  more 
than  a  dictate  of  conscience  narrowly  interpreted. 
Such  judgment  a  college  graduate,  above  other 
members  of  the  community,  is  fitted  to  offer  and  to 
use.  Each  study  of  the  college  makes  an  offering 
toward  its  enrichment.     Language  gives  it  discrim- 

184 


Financial  Relations 

ination,  freedom,  and  aptitude;  science  gives  to 
it  the  sense  of  order  and  a  respect  for  law ;  philos- 
ophy gives  to  it  self-confidence,  breadth  of  vision, 
toleration.  It— this  power  of  judgment— is  more 
useful  than  the  appreciation  of  beauty.  It  is  the 
basis  of  social  life  and  of  good  manners.  It  is  the 
soul  of  conduct.  It  is  the  crown  of  intellectual 
manhood  and  womanhood.  It  is  an  essential  ele- 
ment in  individual  character.  It  is  the  queen  in 
civilized  society.  A  man  who  goes  through  college 
and  trains  in  himself  a  judgment  of  this  power,  is 
doing  much  to  fill  the  direst  and  deepest  need  of 
humanity,  and  the  man  who  endows  the  college 
that  it  may  train  such  judgment  in  the  largest  and 
fullest  ways,  is  also  doing  much  for  humanity. 

About  one-half  of  the  wealth  that  is  bestowed 
in  beneficence  is  the  result  of  bequests,  and  about 
one-half  also  is  the  result  of  gifts.  The  proportion 
differs,  of  course,  in  different  years,  but  it  is  to  be 
said  that  the  amount  given  during  the  lifetime  of 
the  giver  is  increasing.  It  cannot  be  at  all  ques- 
tioned which  method  is  the  better.  For  the  sake 
of  the  security  of  the  gift,  of  its  use  in  the  precise 
ways  which  the  donor  intends,  for  the  sake  of  the 
pleasure  which  the  giver  may  himself  receive  from 
his  giving,  it  cannot  be  questioned  for  one  moment 
but  that  the  giver  should  give  in  his  own  lifetime. 
The  uncertainty  of  the  validity  of  wills  is  a  most 
serious  matter  in  modern  society.  When  a  lawyer 
so  astute  as  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  or  a  judge  so  wise  as 
Chancellor  Kent,  draw  wills  which  are  set  aside  in 
a  greater  or  less  extent,  it  is  apparent  that  much 

185 


Financial  Relations 

uncertainty  must  attend  the  making  of  any  testa- 
ment. But  it  is  also  to  be  said,  on  the  other  side, 
that  the  desire  to  retain  property  is  strong,  and  also 
the  need  of  the  income  or  the  principal  of  property 
may  be  absolute.  In  this  case,  if  one  wish  to  be 
absolutely  assured  of  the  proper  use  of  his  prop- 
erty, he  can  usually  bestow  it  upon  a  college  and 
receive  a  specific  income  from  it  during  his  life- 
time. 

What  has  been  called  the  conditional  method  of 
giving  has  become  so  common  that  it  should  re- 
ceive special  mention.  This  method  consists  simply 
in  that  the  making  of  one  gift  is  conditioned  upon 
the  making  of  certain  other  gifts.  For  instance, 
Mr.  John  D.  Rockefeller  promises  to  give  the 
University  of  Chicago  two  millions  of  dollars  in 
the  course  of  four  years,  provided  that  an  equal 
sum  is  given  by  others  in  the  same  time.  It 
is  well  known  that  this  conditional  method  is  one 
frequently  followed  by  Mr.  Rockefeller,  and  is  also 
one  which  has  become  conspicuous  through  its  use 
by  Dr.  D.  K.  Pearsons  of  Chicago. 

The  first  thought  that  one  has  in  respect  to  this 
method  is  that  it  is  an  exceedingly  shrewd  device. 
It  is  recognized  as  an  efficient  method  for  promot- 
ing the  beneficence  of  people  who  need  a  motive. 
It  seems  to  carry  along  with  itself  not  only  evi- 
dence of  the  generosity  of  the  man  himself,  but 
also  evidence  that  he  wishes  every  man  whom  he 
can  influence  to  be  generous  also.  It  is  the  em- 
bodiment of  the  method  of  the  New  England  the- 
ology of  helping  every  one  to  do  his  whole  duty. 


Financial  Relations 

But  when  one  has  taken  satisfaction  in  this 
thought  and  feeling  another  sentiment  emerges. 
The  second  sentiment  is  rather  one  of  revulsion; 
for  to  certain  minds  the  process  does  seem  to  savor 
of  dragooning  an  individual  into  benevolence 
against  his  will.  It  contains  an  intimation  that 
the  generous  man  and  rich  proposes  to  make  every- 
body else  generous  so  far  as  he  can.  I  can  easily 
see  that  an  emotional  and  intellectual  process 
somewhat  of  this  character  may  possess  a  man 
who  is  approached  for  a  gift  under  the  conditions 
of  this  method.  The  agent  who  is  securing  funds 
asks  Mr.  A.  B.  to  give  a  thousand  dollars.  Mr.  A.  B. 
replies  that  he  will  consider  the  need  and  will  do  as 
seems  to  him  right.  "  But,"  says  the  agent,  "  you 
will  not  forget,  my  dear  Mr.  A.  B.,  that  if  you  give 
a  thousand  dollars,  Mr.  X.  Y.  will  also  give  a  thou- 
sand dollars.  Therefore  your  gift  of  a  thousand 
means  an  addition  to  our  fund  of  two  thousand." 
A.  B.  replies :  "  Yes,  I  know ;  but  that  is  no  con- 
cern of  mine.  If  your  cause  is  worthy  I  will  give 
you  a  thousand  dollars,  whether  any  one  else  gives 
or  not.  If  it  is  not  worthy  I  will  not  subscribe  a 
cent ;  if  it  is  worthy  I  will  subscribe  all  I  can.  I  do 
not  let  any  man  either  cajole  or  force  me  into  giv- 
ing away  my  money  against  my  will  and  judgment. 
If  he  ought  to  give  away  his  million  or  ten  thou- 
sand, of  course  he  ought  to  give  it  away ;  but  his 
duty  has  no  relation  to  my  duty,  or  mine  to  his." 
Such,  I  can  easily  believe,  is  the  mood  of  many  a 
man  who  is  approached  to  make  gifts  under  the 
conditions  of  this  new  method. 

187 


Financial  Relations 

And  yet  the  new  method  does  seem  to  me  to  be, 
as  I  have  intimated,  worthy  of  commendation.  The 
arguments  in  its  behalf  are  far  stronger  than  the 
arguments  against  it;  for  the  amount  that  one 
ought  to  give  is  not  determined  by  a  narrow  inter- 
pretation. The  amount  which  one  gives,  or  ought  to 
give,  is  determined  somewhat  by  what  others  give 
or  ought  to  give.  Mr.  Wiseheart,  for  instance,  has 
half  a  million  dollars  to  give  toward  the  founding 
of  a  college  in  his  native  town.  He  knows  very 
well  that  half  a  million  is  too  small  a  foundation 
for  a  college  to  rest  upon.  Yet  this  sum  he  is 
willing  thus  to  invest.  Is  it  not  just  and  gracious 
in  him  to  say,  "  I  will  give  half  a  million  dollars 
to  found  a  college,  provided  that  you,  the  com- 
panions of  my  boyhood,  will  give  an  equal  sum  "  ? 
He  lays  no  burden  upon  them  which  they  should 
feel  the  weight  of,  if  they  have  the  means  of 
lifting  it.  Mr.  Goodheart  may  also  wish  to  build 
a  church  in  his  native  town.  He  knows  that  five 
thousand  dollars  is  a  small  sum,  too  small  to  erect 
an  adequate  structure.  Is  it,  therefore,  not  just 
and  gracious  in  him  to  say  to  the  congregation,  "  I 
have  five  thousand  dollars  in  the  bank  awaiting 
your  call  when  you  put  five  thousand  dollars  more 
along  with  it  for  building  a  church  "  ?  Mr.  Dowell 
wishes  to  build  a  parsonage  in  his  native  town. 
He  has  five  hundred  dollars  for  this  purpose,  but 
five  hundred  dollars  is  not  adequate.  Is  it  not 
just  and  generous  and  gracious  in  him  to  say  to 
the  congregation  that  he  will  give  five  hundred 
dollars  provided  it  will   raise  a   thousand?     His 

1 88 


Financial  Relations 

proposition  lays  no  burden  on  the  church  if  it  have 
the  power  of  raising  the  additional  sum.  In  the 
first  instance,  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  should 
not  be  given  to  found  the  college  unless  an  equal 
sum  is  also  raised.  In  the  second  instance,  five 
thousand  dollars  should  not  be  given  to  build  the 
church  unless  an  equal  sum  is  also  raised.  In  the 
third  instance,  five  hundred  dollars  should  not  be 
given  to  build  the  parsonage  unless  the  thousand 
dollars  are  also  raised.  For  each  sum  in  itself  is 
inadequate  for  the  ordained  purpose.  Therefore 
the  amount  which  one  may  properly  give  to  the 
support  of  a  certain  cause  is  conditioned  upon 
what  others  are  inclined  to  give. 

The  new  method  deserves  commendation  also 
on  the  ground  that  most  people  do  require  every 
possible  motive  to  maintain  themselves  in  a  just 
generosity.  By  nature  most  men  embody  very 
well  the  law  of  self-preservation  and  of  self-pro- 
tection. Men  ought  always  to  be  self  ward;  but 
most  find  selfwardness  degenerating  into  selfish- 
ness. They  require  the  urging  and  pressure  of 
every  motive  for  holding  themselves  to  their  duty 
in  beneficence.  Therefore  motives  that  may  not 
seem  to  be  gracious  may  be  wise,  and  motives  which 
at  times  hardly  seem  wise  may,  on  the  whole,  be 
necessary  to  secure  the  largest  and  most  lasting 
results. 

Yet  not  infrequently  the  result  emerges  in  a  way 
far  less  ungracious  than  the  premises  intimate. 
For  it  is  a  fact  often  found  that  men  of  large  power 
and  large  generosity  in  giving,  who  have  condi- 

189 


Financial  Relations 

tioned  their  gifts  upon  the  making  of  other  gifts, 
do  bestow  the  gifts  which  they  had  conditionally 
promised,  even  if  the  conditions  themselves  are  not 
fulfilled.  I  recall  one  instance  of  this  nature.  A 
friend  of  mine  had  promised  five  thousand  dollars 
to  a  certain  school  for  young  women  on  condition 
that  thirty  thousand  dollars  were  raised  in  addi- 
tion. The  hard  times  came  on  soon  after  he  had 
made  his  promise.  It  was  quite  impossible  for  the 
agent  to  raise  even  a  tithe  of  the  thirty  thousand ; 
but  my  friend  said,  as  if  it  were  to  him  a  matter 
of  no  consequence  whether  the  thirty  thousand 
dollars  were  secured  or  not :  "  Of  course  I  gave 
the  five." 

It  seems,  therefore,  that  this  new  method  of 
beneficence,  on  the  whole,  is  wise  and  just.  But  it 
does  seem,  too,  that  those  who  make  large  prom- 
ises of  this  nature  conditioned  upon  the  raising 
of  other  sums  should  not  in  all  instances  withhold 
their  benefactions  through  the  failure  to  fulfil  the 
conditions  laid  down.  This  might  well  be  the  case, 
provided  that  those  who  are  seeking  to  fulfil  the 
conditions  have  labored  in  wisdom,  energy,  and 
self-sacrifice.  The  conditions,  too,  should  not  be 
made  onerous. 

If  the  gift  of  money  is  important  and  useful,  it 
is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  with  his  money  the 
giver  is  to  give  himself.  To  give  money  without 
giving  one's  self  may  be  ungracious  in  the  giver, 
and  may  not  awaken  proper  gratitude  in  the 
recipient.  To  give  one's  self  with  the  gift  is  at 
once  gracious  and  generous.    It  was  said  of  one  of 

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Financial  Relations 

the  great  givers  of  this  country,  in  speaking  of 
the  money  which  he  gave,  that  "  with  it  went  the 
heart  to  conceive  and  the  brain  to  execute;  a 
watchful  oversight  that  doubled  the  value  of  the 
gift ;  a  guardian  care  that  would  suffer  no  dollar 
to  be  wasted,  but  drive  every  one  to  its  allotted 
place  and  its  fullest  result." 1 

The  special  objects  in  a  college  to  which  one 
should  give  are  many.  It  is  usually  recognized  by 
Trustees  that  the  gifts  which  are  made  absolutely 
and  without  restrictions  of  any  kind  are  the  most 
valuable.  Such  giving  the  donor  may  well  be 
expected  to  approve  of;  for  he  should  not  choose 
a  college  in  the  judgment  of  whose  Trustees  or  their 
successors  he  cannot  have  absolute  trust.  But 
there  are  certain  needs  which  are  quite  as  sure  of 
remaining  as  any  need  of  all  humanity.  The  most 
comprehensive  of  these  needs  is  the  college  library. 

The  university  represents  a  unique  combination 
of  the  library  and  of  the  scholar.  A  library  with- 
out a  scholar  is  a  pile  of  bricks  without  an  archi- 
tect, useless,  meaningless;  a  scholar  without  a 
library  is  an  architect  without  bricks,  helpless, 
worthless.  A  scholar  in  a  library,  a  library  for  a 
scholar,  and  both  constituent  parts  of  the  univer- 
sity represent  the  affluence,  the  power,  and  the 
progress  of  learning. 

The  library  also  represents  the  highest  relation 
of  the  work  of  the  college  to  the  work  of  the  world. 
It  embodies  the  purest  thought,  it  receives  the 
finest  gold  of  human  aspiration  and  achievement. 

1  "In  Memory  of  Henry  "Williams  Sage,"  p.  45. 
19I 


Financial  Relations 

Above  all  other  collections  of  books,  it  should  keep 
out  all  dross.  Most  books,  as  they  fall  from  the 
press,  fall  into  the  ocean  of  forgetf ulness,  and  sink 
by  their  own  weight.  The  college  receives  the 
books  which  have  life,  the  books  which,  as  Lowell 
says  of  Gray,  "  may  have  little  fuel  but  real  fire." 
It  wishes  to  possess  all  the  books  which  are  an  un- 
quenchable flame.  President  Low  has  defined  the 
university  as  "  the  highest  organized  exponent  of 
the  intellectual  needs  of  man." *  The  library  may 
be  called  the  highest  organized  exponent  of  the 
supply  of  the  organized  needs  of  man.  He  also 
says  that  the  university  "  is  an  organized  exponent 
of  the  questioning  spirit  in  man."  We  may  still 
further  define  the  library  as  an  organized  exponent 
of  the  answering  of  the  questioning  spirit  in  man. 
It  is  through  the  library  that  the  college  comes 
into  relations  with  life  universal,  vital,  human. 
The  library  appeals  to  humanity  of  every  range. 
The  chemical  laboratory  to  many  is  a  condition 
which  appeals  to  only  a  part  of  the  human  sense 
and  senses.  Laboratories  of  other  departments 
are  likewise  as  meaningless.  But  a  great  collec- 
tion of  books  awakens  in  even  the  most  stupid 
wonder,  and  in  all  other  persons  emotions  higher 
than  wonder,  according  as  the  intellectual  receptivi- 
ties are  nobler.  Most  vital,  too,  are  these  relations. 
How  many  have  interpreted  in  their  own  lives  Mil- 
ton's definition  of  a  book  as  the  "  precious  life- 
blood  of  a  master  spirit " !  Cold  and  remote  often 
seems  the  college.     It  is  apart  from  humanity,  as 

1  From  manuscript. 
I92 


Financial  Relations 

was  Ida's  college  in  "  The  Princess."  But  into  the 
library  has  flowed  the  blood  of  humanity.  The 
college  man  drinks  deep  of  this  inflowing  life  and 
gives  himself  in  deeper  devotion  to  humanity.  Is 
it  too  much  to  say  that  whatever  of  the  universal 
may  belong  to  the  university  belongs  more  to  the 
library  than  to  any  other  part  ? 

The  American  college,  therefore,  has  in  its  library 
an  instrument  of  mighty  usefulness  for  serving 
mankind.  No  wisdom  is  too  practical,  no  conse- 
cration too  hearty,  no  endowment  too  rich,  to  be 
devoted  to  its  development.  No  house  is  too  fair 
or  too  fine  for  holding  its  books,  only  provided  the 
house  facilitates  their  use.  No  administrative  ex- 
pense is  too  costly  for  making  its  resources  more 
accessible.  The  library  is  worthy  of  the  best,  for 
it  helps  to  make  the  best  in  the  student  and  the 
teacher. 

The  significance  given  to  a  library  is  sympto- 
matic of  the  richness  of  the  intellectual  culture 
which  it  helps  the  students  to  secure.  As  the 
public  library  is  to  a  degree  the  cause  and  the 
result  of  the  intelligence  of  the  community,  so 
the  college  library  bears  relations  no  less  broad 
and  intimate  to  the  work  of  the  college  itself.  For 
every  element  and  condition  of  the  library  have  a 
peculiar  value  at  once  to  the  student,  to  the  teacher, 
and  to  the  college  executive.  The  breadth  of  the 
work  of  a  college  library  is  indicated  by  the  fact 
that  the  library  of  Harvard  College  received  in  the 
year  1874-75  four  funds  from  sources  quite  diverse. 
One  of  these  consisted  of  the  proceeds  of  one-half 


13 


193 


Financial  Relations 

of  the  residue  of  the  estate  of  Charles  Sumnery 
$29,005.  Another  fund  was  the  bequest  of  $15,000 
from  James  Walker,  a  former  President  of  the 
college.  Upon  these  gifts  and  others,  the  President 
of  the  college,  in  his  annual  report  for  1874-75, 
says :  "  The  philanthropist  and  orator  whose  life 
was  spent  in  a  fierce  struggle  with  a  monstrous 
public  wrong,  the  strong  preacher,  and  the  philan- 
thropic student  whose  lengthened  days  were  spent 
in  academic  retirement,  the  venerable  women  full 
of  years  and  of  the  graces,  all,  with  a  touching  con- 
sent, come  bringing  the  same  gift — good  books  for 
the  use  of  successive  generations  of  students." 

So  long  as  colleges  exist  and  so  long  as  educa- 
tion is  fostered,  and  so  long  as  the  pursuit  of 
knowledge,  either  as  a  discipline  or  for  the  pur- 
pose of  its  enrichment,  is  observed,  so  long  the 
book  must  play  a  large  part  in  the  organization 
and  administration  of  the  college.  Therefore 
the  gift  of  money  to  a  college  for  the  purchase  of 
books  is  ever,  and  in  every  respect,  to  receive 
hearty  commendation.  It  is  also  to  be  said  that 
a  gift  made  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  the  ordi- 
nary cost  of  instruction  is  fitting.  But  be  it  said 
that  further  than  these  two  particular  purposes 
gifts  made  to  a  college  accompanied  with  condi- 
tions may  prove  to  be  of  restricted  usefulness. 
Gifts  made  for  the  equipping  of  laboratories,  or  for 
the  giving  of  instruction  in  certain  departments,  or 
for  the  founding  of  professorships,  may  not  possess 
the  value  which  the  amount  of  these  gifts  repre- 
sents; for  in  the  changing  conditions  of  our  so- 

194 


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ciety  in  the  next  thousand  years  one  can  be  certain 
that  foundations  such  as  these  will  suffer  serious 
change.  The  distinguished  President  of  an  his- 
toric college  lately  said  that  it  was  easy  enough 
to  get  people  to  give  money  for  specific  purposes 
of  their  own  choosing,  but  that  it  was  not  easy 
to  get  people  to  give  money  for  general  purposes. 
The  work  of  the  college  President  of  to-day  is  so 
to  inspire  people  with  trust  in  the  college  that 
they  will  intrust  money  to  it  with  absolute 
freedom. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  colleges,  notwith- 
standing their  urgent  need  of  money,  have  seldom 
or  never  been  willing  to  adopt  unworthy  methods 
of  securing  money.  The  contrast  between  the 
college  and  the  church  in  this  respect  is  one  alto- 
gether favorable  to  the  college.  One  can  easily 
recall  the  manoeuvers  used  by  various  churches 
either  for  the  purpose  of  benevolence  or  for  secur- 
ing the  support  of  the  organization,  which  break  all 
the  laws  of  good  taste.  The  colleges  have  usually 
been  content  with  the  simple  statement  of  their 
needs  to  those  whose  hearts  were  large  and  whose 
minds  were  receptive  to  truth.  They  have  been 
willing  to  let  their  claims  for  aid  rest  upon  the 
simple  statement  of  their  needs  and  of  their  use- 
fulness to  the  community. 

Beneficence  to  colleges  has  been  larger  in  the 
case  of  the  older  colleges  than  in  the  case  of  the 
newer.  The  reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  The  older 
community  has  more  wealth  to  give.  In  the  newer 
communities  the  returns  for  the  use  of  money  are 

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Financial  Relations 

greater  than  in  the  older.  Therefore  in  New  York 
and  Massachusetts  one  expects  to  find  larger  gifts 
than  in  Illinois  or  Missouri.  In  fact,  in  Massa- 
chusetts beneficences  of  a  public  nature  are 
more  common  than  in  any  other  State.  Great 
properties  are  passing  into  the  hands  of  the  public 
in  a  far  greater  degree  than  is  usually  thought. 
From  one-fifth  to  two-thirds  of  not  a  few  large 
estates  are  frequently  transformed  from  private  to 
public  uses.  The  bequests,  however,  for  what  may 
strictly  be  called  "  charities  "  in  Massachusetts  are 
much  larger  than  they  ought  to  be  in  relation  to 
the  demands  of  the  higher  education. 

It  is  also  not  to  be  forgotten  that  a  small  sum 
of  money  properly  invested  for  even  a  single  life- 
time results  in  a  large  sum.  If  the  time  be  length- 
ened beyond  the  seventy  or  eighty  years  of  a  single 
life,  the  results  become  very  significant.  The  most 
striking  of  all  such  gifts  made  to  the  American 
college  is  found  in  the  fund  given  by  Mr.  Charles 
F.  McCay  to  the  University  of  Georgia.  Mr. 
McCay  was  professor  of  mathematics  for  twenty 
years,  from  1833  to  1853,  and  after  his  retirement 
became  a  leading  actuary  for  insurance  companies. 
In  1879  Mr.  McCay  gave  the  sum  of  $7000  to  the 
university.  This  sum  was  to  be  invested  in  first- 
rate  bonds,  and  the  interest  to  be  compounded  an- 
nually or  semiannually  and  to  be  added  to  the 
principal  until  twenty-one  years  after  the  death  of 
a  certain  number  of  persons.  These  persons  repre- 
sented the  grandchildren  of  the  testator  and  also 
the  grandchildren  of  his  brothers  and  sisters  and 

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Financial  Relations 

of  a  friend.  Some  years  after  the  making  of  this 
deed  of  gift  the  $7000  which  had  been  given  were 
exchanged  for  bonds  of  the  State  of  Georgia  of  the 
face-value  of  $15,000.  It  is  estimated  that  a  hun- 
dred years  will  have  expired  before  the  interest  of 
this  sum  will  become  available.  At  that  time  the 
historian  of  the  University  of  Georgia  estimates 
that  the  fund  will  amount  to  $10,000,000  from 
which  it  is  hoped  the  university  will  be  able  to  se- 
cure, at  a  rate  of  five  per  cent.,  a  net  income  of 
$500,000  a  year. 

Trusts  like  the  Charles  F.  McCay  Donation  have 
seldom  been  committed  to  the  American  college. 
But  if  such  a  method  should  prevail  among  a  few 
colleges  for  even  a  few  generations  the  result  would 
represent  a  mighty  force  for  the  betterment  of 
humanity. 

America  has  entered  into  an  era  of  great  benefi- 
cence. Fifty  years  ago  Abbott  Lawrence  gave 
$50,000  to  Harvard  College  to  found  the  scientific 
school  which  bears  his  name.  It  was  the  sum  of 
$50,000  only.  In  the  diary  of  his  brother  Amos  it 
is  called  a  "  munificent  donation,"  and  this  brother 
wrote  to  the  donor,  under  date  of  June  9,  1847, 
as  follows : 

Dear  Brother  Abbott  :  I  hardly  dare  trust  myself  to 
speak  what  I  feel,  and  therefore  write  a  word  to  say  that 
I  thank  God  I  am  spared  to  this  day  to  see  accomplished 
by  one  so  near  and  dear  to  me  this  last  best  work  ever 
done  by  one  of  our  name,  which  will  prove  a  better  title 
to  true  nobility  than  any  from  the  potentates  of  the 
world.     It  is  more  honorable,  and  more  to  be  coveted, 

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Financial  Relations 

than  the  highest  political  station  in  our  country,  pur- 
chased as  these  stations  often  are  by  time-serving.  It  is 
to  impress  on  unborn  millions  the  great  truth  that  our 
talents  are  trusts  committed  to  us  for  use,  and  to  be 
accounted  for  when  the  Master  calls.  This  magnificent 
plan  is  the  great  thing  that  you  will  see  carried  out,  if 
your  life  is  spared ;  and  you  may  well  cherish  it  as  the 
thing  nearest  your  heart.1 

But  to-day  a  gift  of  $50,000  is  not  at  all  called 
"  munificent,"  and  indeed  it  awakens  small  remark. 
Sheffield's  first  gift  to  the  scientific  school  of  Yale 
University  was  only  $100,000.  A  gift  of  $1,000,000 
to  education  is  now  more  common  than  was  the 
gift  of  $50,000  fifty  years  ago.  In  this  period  we 
have  entered  into  the  era  of  great  fortunes,  and 
we  have  also  entered  into  the  era  of  great  benefi- 
cence. The  next  five  hundred  years  are  to  be  an 
era  of  magnificent  enrichment  and  enlargement. 
Gifts  of  $5,000,000  are  soon  to  become  as  common 
as  gifts  of  $50,000  were  fifty  years  ago,  and  the 
time  may  not  be  remote  when  the  gift  of  $50,000,- 
000  toward  the  establishment  of  institutions  of 
learning  or  of  charity  may  be  frequent. 

One  can  look  upon  these  foundations  with  great 
satisfaction,  not  only  because  of  the  benefits  to  the 
college,  but  also — and  more,  far  more — because 
of  the  benefits  to  be  derived  for  humanity  from 
these  benefactions  made  to  colleges.  For  ordinary 
fortunes  are  dissipated  after  being  held  for  two  or 
three  generations.     The  families  in  this  country 

1  "  Diary  and  Correspondence  of  Amos  Lawrence  "  (Boston,  1856), 
p.  244. 

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Financial  Relations 

which  have  held  large  fortunes  for  a  hundred  years 
can  be  numbered  upon  the  fingers  of  both  hands. 
Therefore  money  given  to  a  college  is  money  saved 
—saved  not  only  for  the  next  generation,  but  also 
saved  for  the  endless  time.  Therefore  the  man 
who  gives  to  a  college  can,  with  a  reasonable  degree 
of  assurance,  feel  that  he  is  founding  a  trust  which 
shall  be  perpetual  in  its  beneficence  to  humanity, 
and  the  college  that  receives  such  endowment  can 
assure  itself  that  it  has  the  promise  and  the  potency 
of  the  highest  and  most  lasting  usefulness. 


Ill 

ENDOWMENT   MADE  FOR   POOR   STUDENTS 

The  remark  is  sometimes  made  that  too  many 
boys  and  girls  are  going  to  college.  At  the  present 
time  in  the  United  States  about  one  boy  or  girl  of 
each  thousand  of  the  population  is  a  student  in  an 
American  college.  This  proportion  is  larger  than 
has  ever  obtained  before,  and  it  is  also  larger  than 
is  found  in  any  other  nation.  Not  infrequently  it 
is  said  that  the  proportion  is  too  large  for  the  best 
interest  of  mankind.  When  one  who  makes  the 
remark  that  there  are  too  many  college  graduates 
is  questioned  as  to  his  reasons,  the  proposition 
usually  becomes  so  reduced  as  to  mean  that  we 
have  too  many  lawyers  and  doctors. 

That  we  have  too  many  lawyers  and  doctors  in  the 
United  States  may  be  granted  without  affirming 

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also  that  we  are  sending  too  many  boys  and  girls 
to  college.  For  going  to  college  simply  means  that 
one  is  being  educated;  it  does  not  mean  that  one 
is  on  the  way  to  become  a  practitioner  either  in 
the  law  or  in  medicine.  One-third  of  the  gradu- 
ates of  not  a  few  of  our  colleges  are  now  entering 
business ;  not  more  than  one-third  are  entering  the 
legal  profession;  and  a  smaller  proportion  are 
becoming  physicians.  It  certainly  is  not  true 
that  any  country  can  have  too  many  well-edu- 
cated men.  Men  can  hardly  think  or  feel  or  rea- 
son too  soundly,  or  possess  an  undue  purity  of  the 
moral  nature,  or  be  endowed  with  a  will  which 
follows  too  closely  the  guidance  of  an  enlightened 
intellect.  The  greater  the  number  of  such  gentle- 
men in  the  community,  the  greater  is  the  likeness 
of  that  community  to  the  state  of  communal  per- 
fection. 

It  would  not,  therefore,  be  an  extreme  proposi- 
tion to  affirm  that  every  member  of  the  community 
should  be  educated,  and  educated  by  the  wisest 
methods,  under  the  best  conditions,  unto  the  secur- 
ing of  the  highest  purposes.  What  if  your  scav- 
enger be  a  bachelor  of  arts,  or  your  grocer,  or  can- 
dlestick-maker be  a  doctor  of  philosophy?  Will 
not  each  attend  to  his  duties  the  better  because 
of  his  prolonged  training?  If  his  education  fail 
to  make  him  a  better  scavenger,  that  education 
has  not  been  so  thorough  as  it  ought  to  have 
been.  A  lady's  maid  will  dress  her  mistress's 
hair  the  more  gracefully,  and  her  nursery-maid 
will  attend  to  the  children  the  more  worthily  be- 

200 


Financial  Relations 

cause  of  four  years  spent  in  studying  Greek  and 
philosophy. 

Though  one  may  fittingly  emphasize  the  advan- 
tage which  would  accrue  to  American  society 
through  the  education  of  each  of  its  members,  yet 
one  should  not  neglect  to  consider  what  may  be  the 
effects  of  this  education  upon  the  members  them- 
selves who  are  educated  and  who  are  unable  to 
secure  what  they  may  regard  as  fitting  employ- 
ment. Each  one  of  these  men  has  trained  himself 
to  think,  and  his  employment  as  a  scavenger  gives 
him  no  opportunity,  or  slight,  for  applying  the 
results  of  his  thought.  He  has  trained  himself  to 
reason,  to  judge,  to  weigh  evidence,  and  his  voca- 
tion as  a  teamster  offers  no  fitting  chance  either 
to  reason  or  to  weigh  evidence.  The  effect  of  such 
a  condition  upon  the  educated  man  may  be  bitter- 
ness and  disgust  and  hardness.  He  has  spent 
money,  time,  and  strength,  and  this  is  the  result ! 
Only  a  large  man  can  save  himself  from  such  an 
evil  consequence.  Better,  far  better,  for  one  not 
to  have  received  a  degree,  and  to  have  been  con- 
tent with  a  place  as  a  scavenger  or  as  a  teamster, 
than  to  have  a  dozen  degrees,  and  to  spend  his  life 
in  bitterness  of  spirit  and  disgust  of  soul.  This 
sad  condition  is  not  one  often  met  with  in  the 
United  States,  but  is  found  far  more  frequently 
than  we  could  wish  in  Germany  and  Russia. 

The  endeavor  which  is  made  in  Germany  and 
Russia  to  lessen  the  number  of  men  entering  the 
universities  is  based  upon  the  supposition  that  all 
recipients  of  degrees  will  enter  what  we  still  call 

20 1 


Financial  Relations 

the  learned  professions.  On  this  supposition  it  is 
wise  to  lessen  the  number  of  the  candidates  for  uni- 
versity degrees ;  for  in  Germany  some  professions 
are  suffering  from  too  many  candidates.  But  the 
supposition  itself  is  not  wise,  even  for  Germany; 
for  Germany,  like  America,  needs  more  men  of  a 
liberal  training  in  almost  every  vocation. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  higher  education  never 
pays  for  itself ;  and  it  is  also  well  known  that  the 
higher  the  education  becomes,  the  wider  becomes 
the  gap  between  the  income  and  the  expenditure 
for  that  education.  The  $75,000  which  the  fresh- 
man class  pays  annually  into  the  treasury  of  Har- 
vard University  more  than  meets  the  direct  cost 
of  the  instruction  of  that  class;  but  the  $50,000 
which  the  senior  class  pays  is  very  remote  from 
meeting  the  direct  cost  of  its  instruction.  The 
further  education  is  pursued,  the  greater  is  the 
division  of  labor;  the  sections  into  which  the 
members  of  the  class  are  divided  become  smaller, 
and  the  relative  expense  for  each  student  grows 
larger.  The  amount  paid  by  the  students  of  any 
college  falls  considerably  short  of  the  expenses  of 
that  institution.  I  know  a  college  the  annual  cost 
of  whose  administration  is  about  $60,000,  without 
counting  the  interest  on  the  plant,  and  of  this  sum 
the  students  pay  about  $1 2,000 ;  that  is  to  say,  the 
students  pay  one-fifth  of  the  cost  of  their  educa- 
tion, and  the  college  pays  four-fifths. 

It  is  also  well  known  that  many  homes  in  the 
United  States  are  able  to  put  from  $2000  to  $4000, 
or  more,  into  the  college  education  of  a  son  or 

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Financial  Relations 

daughter.  Forty  or  fifty  thousand  homes  in  the 
country  are  now  making  this  investment  of  money 
and  of  love.  It  is  also  well  known  that  other  tens 
of  thousands  of  homes  would  be  very  glad  to  make 
this  investment  of  money  in  the  education  of  a 
child,  if  only  the  parents  had  the  money  to  invest. 
The  sons  and  daughters  of  homes  of  poverty  or  of 
moderate  income  are  none  the  less  loved, — of  course 
not, — are  none  the  less  able ;  and  they  possess  none 
the  less  of  promise  of  becoming  useful  members  of 
society.  The  desire,  therefore,  of  boys  and  girls 
who  are  not  able  to  pay  their  own  college  bills  to 
go  to  college,  and  the  promise  which  these  boys 
and  girls  give  of  rendering  good  service  to  the  com- 
munity, lay  upon  the  community,  and  upon  the 
college  as  a  part  of  a  function  of  the  community, 
a  very  large  and  serious  problem.  Shall  the  col- 
lege say  to  the  applicant  for  admission,  "Yes,  we 
want  to  educate  you;  but  you  cannot  expect  the 
college  to  give  you  an  education  gratis.  Bring  to 
us  the  little  fee  which  we  charge,  and  we  will  do 
the  best  we  can  for  you ;  but  if  you  cannot  bring 
this  fee,  we  are  obliged  to  say  with  regret  that  we 
cannot  serve  you"  %  Or  shall  the  college  say, 
"We  are  a  public  institution  designed  to  serve  the 
people.  Our  fees  are  small.  The  income  that  we 
receive  from  them  represents  only  a  small  share  of 
the  total  cost  of  giving  an  education.  If  you  are 
not  able  to  pay  the  full  amount  of  the  fee,  small 
as  it  is,  we  will  loan  you  the  money  sufficient  to 
warrant  you  in  beginning  your  course ;  and  if  you 
prove  yourself  a  worthy  student,  you  will  not  be 

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Financial  Relations 

obliged  to  leave  college  because  of  poverty"? 
Which  attitude  shall  the  college  take  with  ref- 
erence to  certain  members  of  the  community? 

The  fundamental  reason  for  the  college  helping 
the  poor  student  at  all  is  a  reason  which  is  funda- 
mental in  the  constitution  of  the  college  itself — 
namely,  the  bettering  of  humanity,  the  aiding 
of  the  community.  For  the  college  is  to  serve 
the  community.  It  must  serve  the  community 
by  such  methods  and  measures  as  its  wisdom  dic- 
tates. But  the  constitutional  purpose  is  evident. 
Of  course  it  can  serve  the  community  through  the 
education  of  its  worthy  and  promising  members, 
as  the  community  aids  the  college.  The  commu- 
nity blesses  itself  through  constituting  the  college 
both  its  benefactor  and  its  beneficiary. 

These  are  the  conditions  under  which  the  college 
has  for  generations  been  giving  an  education,  more 
or  less  free,  to  American  youth.  The  amount  of 
money  which  the  college  has  given,  and  is  still 
giving,  is  very  large. 

The  money  given  directly  or  indirectly  by  differ- 
ent colleges  to  aid  worthy  and  poor  students,  and 
the  opportunities  afforded  to  them  for  working 
their  way  through  college,  are  well  illustrated  in 
the  following  statements  respecting  representative 
colleges. 

Amherst  has  a  hundred  scholarships  which 
cover  the  tuition  fee.  It  also  gives  the  amount  of 
the  tuition  fee  to  those  who  propose  to  become 
ministers.  It  has  certain  rooms  for  which  no  rent 
is  charged,  and  also  makes  loans  to  students  at 

204 


Financial  Relations 

low  rates.  Brown  University  also  has  a  hundred 
scholarships  which  cover  the  amount  of  the  tuition 
fee,  and  also  a  loan  fund.  Bowdoin  College  has 
eighty  scholarships  of  an  annual  value  of  from 
fifty  to  seventy- five  dollars.  Dartmouth,  it  is 
said,  has  nearly  three  hundred  scholarships.  It 
also  places  rooms  at  the  disposal  of  certain  men 
at  merely  nominal  rent.  Harvard  has  somewhat 
more  than  two  hundred  scholarships  running  in 
value  from  sixty  to  four  hundred  dollars  each,  and 
also  large  beneficiary  or  loan  funds,  which  are 
given  or  loaned  in  sums  varying  from  forty  to 
two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  Princeton  remits 
the  tuition  fee  to  those  who  propose  to  become 
ministers  and  to  other  men  of  promise.  Columbia 
has  somewhat  over  a  hundred  scholarships  as  well 
as  a  loan  fund,  and  these  scholarships  cover  the 
fee  for  tuition.  Cornell  has  six  hundred  and  twelve 
State  scholarships,  which  cover  the  charge  for  in- 
struction, as  well  as  others  which  are  awarded  as  a 
result  of  competitive  examinations.  Yale  remits 
all  but  forty  dollars  from  the  term  bills  of  those 
students  who  are  worthy  and  need  help,  and  also 
has  various  scholarships  and  prizes.  The  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania  annually  distributes  between 
forty  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  free  scholarships 
and  fellowships  among  from  three  to  four  hundred 
men. 

These  statements  represent  what  a  few  of  the 
colleges  are  doing  to  help  worthy  men ;  and,  be  it 
said,  these  statements  are  simply  representative 
of  what  other  colleges  are  inclined,— although  in 

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Financial  Relations 

smaller  sums,— if  not  eager,  to  do  to  help  students 
of  slender  means  but  high  promise  to  fit  themselves 
for  living  the  largest  life  and  for  doing  the  best 
work. 

From  the  beginning  the  American  college  has 
had  a  warm  heart  for  the  poor  and  able  boy.  Dr. 
Julian  M.  Sturtevant,  who  was  for  many  years 
President  of  Illinois  College,  and  to  whom  several 
States  of  the  Mississippi  valley  are  deeply  indebted 
for  noble  contributions  to  their  highest  civiliza- 
tion, tells,  in  his  autobiography,  of  the  help  that 
was  given  to  him  in  the  early  part  of  this  century 
at  Yale  College.  Dr.  Sturtevant  entered  Yale  in 
the  year  1822.  He  was  so  poor  that  he  was  obliged 
to  depend  entirely  upon  himself,  or  upon  such  aid 
as  he  might  receive,  for  getting  through  college. 
He  says : 

Our  venerable  mother,  Yale,  had  some  peculiar  ways  in 
dealing  with  her  numerous  family  of  boys.  She  took 
into  consideration  the  peculiar  conditions  and  needs  of 
each  student,  and  did  not  treat  all  exactly  alike.  She 
kindly  permitted  me  to  enjoy  the  good  things  of  her  din- 
ing-rooms and  her  halls  of  instruction  with  the  full 
understanding  that  I  would  pay  my  way  as  fast  as  I 
could.  None  of  her  bills  were  due  till  the  end  of  the 
term.  I  was  then  expected  to  pay  what  I  could  and  give 
my  note  for  the  rest.  From  those  students  who  had 
abundant  resources  a  bond  with  responsible  indorsement 
was  required,  covering  the  full  amount  of  the  indebted- 
ness which  each  would  be  likely  to  incur  for  the  whole 
four  years'  course,  while  from  those  who,  like  myself, 
had  no  money  and  in  a  business  way  no  credit,  no  secur- 

206 


Financial  Relations 

ity  was  required  but  a  personal  note  with  evidence  of  a 
disposition  to  pay  as  fast  as  possible.  In  further  evi- 
dence of  Yale's  liberality,  I  will  mention  that  I  several 
times  found  credit  on  my  term  bills  which  represented 
no  payment  by  myself  into  the  treasury.  This  very  un- 
usual and  liberal  system  seems  to  have  worked  well  in 
my  case.  It  enabled  me  to  continue  in  college,  which 
would  otherwise  have  been  impossible.  And  in  the  end 
I  paid  all  charges  against  me  on  the  college  books,  both 
principal  and  interest.  The  generous  treatment  received 
from  the  Yale  authorities  I  shall  hold  in  lifelong  grateful 
remembrance.1 

The  belief  is  common,  although  not  universal, 
among  college  presidents  that  donations  to  needy 
and  promising  students  represent  a  worthy  form 
of  educational  beneficence.  It  is  believed  that  the 
college,  as  a  trustee  for  the  holiest  interests  of 
humanity,  should  do  its  utmost  in  promoting  the 
value  and  effectiveness  of  the  forces  that  may 
make  for  the  betterment  of  men.  Such  gifts  are 
supported  by  the  strongest  human  motives.  They 
represent  the  essence  of  the  Christian  system.  The 
college, — like  the  church,  the  family,  and  the  state, 
— as  an  organized  form  of  society,  should  do  its 
utmost  in  promoting  the  highest  and  largest  wel- 
fare. So  far  as  justice  to  all  interests  allows,  the 
boy  or  girl  who  desires  an  education,  and  who 
would  be  made  a  better  member  of  society  by  rea- 
son of  having  that  education,  should  receive  it. 
The  evils  which  may  result  from  such  a  philan- 

1  "  Autobiography  of  Julian  M.  Sturtevant,"  edited  by  his  son, 
p.  80. 

207 


Financial  Relations 

thropie  method  may  be  thought  to  be  great  or 
slight ;  but  they  should  be  made  so  slight  that  the 
advantages  accruing  to  society  should  become 
large  and  lasting. 

I  cannot  but  believe  that  the  evils  resulting  from 
urging  worthy  youth,  rich  in  brain  but  poor  in 
purse,  to  enter  college,  are  indeed  slight,  while  the 
advantages  may  prove  to  be  exceedingly  great. 
Upon  this  point  President  Oilman,  in  an  address 
before  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society  of  Harvard  in 
1886,  said: 

Just  now,  in  our  own  country,  there  is  special  reason 
for  affirming  that  talents  should  be  encouraged  without 
respect  to  poverty.  Indeed,  it  is  quite  probable  that  the 
rich  need  the  stimulus  of  academic  honors  more  than  the 
poor;  certainly  the  good  of  society  requires  that  intel- 
lectual power,  wherever  detected,  should  be  encouraged 
to  exercise  its  highest  functions. 

Among  all  college  presidents  I  know  of  a  few, 
only  a  few,  who  oppose  the  giving  of  a  college 
education  without  cost  to  those  who  are  eager  to 
receive  it.  The  President  of  one  of  the  more  con- 
spicuous of  the  newer  universities  writes  to  me  as 
follows : 

In  my  experience,  the  general  effect  of  the  granting  of 
pecuniary  aid  is  bad  on  the  receiver  and  bad  also  on  the 
body  of  students  who  do  not  receive.  All  forms  of  help 
granted  here  are  in  the  shape  of  employment;  and  I 
would  not  have  it  otherwise.  ...  I  prefer  low  tuition 
or  free  tuition  to  all  to  any  system  of  aid. 

Loans  are  to  be  preferred  to  gifts ;  but  their  influence 

208 


Financial  Relations 

is  sometimes  bad,  especially  on  those  who  feel  tempted 
never  to  repay.  In  case  funds  of  this  sort  were  in  my 
hands,  I  would  use  them  to  pay  men  who  give  promise 
of  special  usefulness  by  making  them  assistants  in  some 
departments  where  their  help  was  actually  needed. 

The  statement  is  sometimes  made  that  a  boy 
desiring  to  go  to  college  should  not  go  until  he 
has  supplied  himself  with  money  sufficient  to  meet 
the  cost  of  his  education.  Let  him  first  earn  his 
money,  it  is  said,  and  afterward  go  to  college. 
The  simple  truth  is :  first,  that  the  boy  would  sel- 
dom earn  enough  to  go ;  second,  that  while  earning 
it  he  would  usualty  lose  his  purpose  to  go  to  col- 
lege ;  and,  third,  that  when  he  had  earned  enough 
to  go  through  college  he  would  find  himself  too 
old  to  take  up  with  the  highest  advantage  to  him- 
self many  of  the  studies  of  the  first  two  years  of  a 
college  course.  The  tendency  of  staying  out  of  col- 
lege to  take  away  the  purpose  to  go  to  college  at 
all  is  strikingly  illustrated  in  the  case  of  a  medi- 
cal student.  I  had  given  him  the  counsel  to 
stay  out  of  college  a  year  and  earn  money,  inas- 
much as  he  was  especially  in  need  of  earning 
money,  and  his  ability  to  earn  money  was  excep- 
tionally good.  He  saw  fit  not  to  follow  the  advice. 
In  response  to  my  inquiry  as  to  his  reason  for 
going  on  with  his  studies,  he  remarked, — and  the 
remark  was  made  with  a  pathos  which  conveyed  a 
meaning  that  the  words  themselves  do  not  convey, 
— "I  was  afraid  that  if  I  stayed  out  any  longer  I 
should  give  it  all  up  !  " 

Of  course,  in  the  giving  of  aid  to  students,  the 
14  209 


Financial  Relations 

grounds  of  the  grant  are  of  absolute  importance. 
The  grounds  upon  which  aid  is  usually  given 
by  a  college  are  threefold :  first,  the  need  of  aid ; 
second,  the  character  of  the  applicant ;  and,  third, 
the  ability  of  the  applicant.  These  grounds  are 
often  more  or  less  difficult  to  determine.  In  not  a 
few  instances  it  is  difficult  to  discover  with  thor- 
ough satisfaction  whether  the  student  be  so  in 
want  that  he  should  receive  aid.  The  college 
usually  takes  pains  to  investigate  the  question. 
It  frequently  sends  out  printed  circulars  which 
are  to  be  signed,  not  only  by  the  applicant  or  his 
parents,  but  also  by  those  outside  of  the  family  who 
know  of  the  conditions.  For  instance,  the  follow- 
ing is  the  form  that  is  used  in  a  New  England 
college : 

I  hereby  apply  for  a  scholarship  in College,  on 

the  ground  that  I  am  so  far  dependent  upon  my  own 
exertions  in  securing  a  college  education  as  to  make  it 
necessary  for  me  to  receive  special  pecuniary  aid  from 
the  college. 

(  Name 

Signature  of  Applicant  <  Residence 

(  College  Course 

We  indorse  the  above  application  from  our  personal 
knowledge  of  the  pecuniary  needs  of  the  applicant,  and 
in  the  belief  that  he  is  worthy,  both  in  character  and 
talents,  of  the  desired  aid. 

Signature  of  two  responsible  parties,  with  date  and 
place : 


210 


Financial  Relations 

This  application  is  made  with  my  knowledge  and  ap- 
proval, and  because  of  my  own  inability  to  furnish  the 
means  necessary  for  the  education  of  my  son  (or  ward). 

Signature  of  parent  or  guardian,  with  date  and  place : 


But  even  with  the  making  of  this  and.  similar 
inquiries  every  college  officer  knows  that  he  is  not 
infrequently  imposed  upon.  For  "  need  "  is  not  an 
absolute  term,  but  a  relative  one.  One  home,  hav- 
ing an  annual  income  of  $1000,  will  send  a  son  or 
daughter  to  college  and  pay  all  the  bills.  Another 
home,  having  an  income  of  $1500,  will  become  an 
applicant  for  a  scholarship,  and  will  not  see  any- 
thing inconsistent  in  accepting  a  largess  of  $200 
from  the  college.  The  opinion  is  altogether  too 
common  that  every  college  is  rich,  and  that  whatso- 
ever a  student  can  get  from  the  college  is  so  much 
gained.  It  is  well  known  that  great  difficulty  is 
experienced  in  the  administration  of  what  is  known 
as  the  Price  Greenleaf  Aid  Fund  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity. I  have  known  of  boys  who  applied  for 
aid  from  this  fund  and  who  have  received  the  aid, 
but  who,  judged  from  the  standard  of  expenditure 
in  their  homes,  had  no  more  right  to  it  than  the 
man  in  the  moon.  But  the  element  of  need,  when 
once  determined,  is  a  fundamental  ground  for  the 
awarding  of  aid.  It  becomes  the  college  to  inves- 
tigate, with  whatever  of  pains  and  courtesy  the 
condition  allows,  in  order  to  discover  the  exact 
character  of  the  need,  and  to  determine  the  amount 
necessary  for  the  proper  filling  of  the  need.  Of 
course  the  question  of  the  character  of  the  appli- 

21  I 


Financial  Relations 

cant  also  is  fundamental.  The  college  ought  not, 
under  any  condition,  to  educate  a  boy  whose  char- 
acter is  bad  and  who  gives  no  promise  of  becoming 
a  useful  member  of  the  community.  To  educate  a 
bad  boy  or  a  boy  of  no  promise  is  to  introduce  a 
serpent  into  a  dove's  nest,  or  to  train  him  for  the 
serpent's  career.  For,  as  is  said  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  Phillips  Academy  at  Andover,  "  knowledge 
without  goodness  is  dangerous." 

The  college  should  also  demand  a  high  degree  of 
intellectual  ability  and  of  promise  in  order  to  grant 
aid.  The  degree  of  ability  and  the  degree  of  prom- 
ise required  vary  in  different  colleges.  In  not  a 
few  the  amount  of  aid  is  measured  by  the  degree 
of  ability  or  of  promise.  At  this  point  the  college 
meets  with  a  constant  difficulty.  What  is  the 
minimum  of  ability  which  should  justify  a  college 
Faculty  in  giving  aid  to  a  student  who  is  in  need ! 
The  President  of  a  college  in  Indiana  writes : 

It  is  not  our  policy  to  give  aid  to  men  poor  in  purse 
but  unpromising  scholars  unless  we  discover  that  there 
is  a  good  deal  of  potency  in  them.  The  college  should 
train  character,  it  is  true ;  hut  it  is  also  to  train  intellect. 
Some  men  ought  not  to  have  a  college  education,  and 
can  be  more  useful  members  of  society  by  doing  some- 
thing else  rather  than  attending  college. 

The  President  of  a  college  in  Michigan  writes : 

No  discrimination  should  be  made  against  moderately 
dull  students.  Beneficiary  aid  is  not  for  the  exceptionally 
gifted  alone. 

212 


Financial  Relations 

The  President  of  a  university  in  the  State  of  New 
York  writes : 

It  seems  to  us  that  there  ought  to  he,  for  every  such 
grant,  the  demonstrated  ability  either  of  achievement  or 
promise,  and  that  there  ought  to  be,  besides,  the  fact  of 
need.  Sometimes  the  need  is  the  one  thing  which  pre- 
vents a  student  from  being  properly  equipped  for  begin- 
ning the  course  which  he  wishes  to  pursue.  At  entrance, 
therefore,  we  should  doubtless  be  more  lenient  in  accept- 
ing promise  in  lieu  of  achievement  than  we  should  be 
later  in  the  course. 

The  President  of  a  denominational  college  in 
Ohio  says: 

We  are  coming  more  and  more  to  question  the  wisdom 
of  granting  aid  to  goody-goody  fellows  who  have  little 
brain-power.  On  a  scale  of  a  possible  100,  we  now  require 
a  passing  grade  of  80  for  all  beneficiary  students, 
whereas  others  pass  on  60. 

It  is  evident  that  the  degree  of  promised  useful- 
ness which  should  be  expected  from  an  applicant 
for  aid  represents  one  of  the  most  difficult  ques- 
tions for  a  Faculty  to  consider.  In  general,  it  is 
to  be  said  that  the  Faculty  is  inclined  to  give  the 
applicant  the  advantage  of  the  doubt;  for  the 
very  fact  that  he  is  eager  for  an  education  is  some 
evidence  of  his  worthiness  to  receive  it,  and  it  is 
also  promise  that  he  will  make  his  life  of  the 
greater  worth  by  reason  of  receiving  it. 

The  aid  which  the  college  gives  a  student  is 
usually  of  one  of  three  forms.    The  most  common 

213 


Financial  Relations 

form  is  that  known  as  a  "  scholarship."  A  scholar- 
ship usually  represents  a  gift  of  a  certain  sum  of 
money  made  to  the  college,  the  income  of  which 
is  to  be  used  in  aiding  an  individual  to  get  an 
education.  The  annual  value  of  a  scholarship 
differs  in  different  instances.  In  Harvard  the 
annual  value  runs  from  $50  to  $400,  and  the  aver- 
age is  perhaps  about  $225.  In  most  colleges  the 
annual  value  is  equivalent  to  the  annual  charge 
for  instruction.     In  others  it  is  less. 

A  second  form  of  aid  consists  in  payments  from 
the  general  funds  of  the  institution.  These  pay- 
ments are  frequently  made  over  and  above  any 
remission  of  fees  or  grants  of  scholarships.  The 
most  conspicuous  of  these  funds  is  the  Price  Green- 
leaf  Fund  of  Harvard  University,  already  alluded 
to.  Among  the  more  notable  of  recent  gifts  to 
educational  institutions  is  the  bequest  of  Edward 
Austin  of  about  a  million  dollars  to  Harvard  and 
to  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology,  to 
establish  beneficiary  funds  for  students.  The 
nature  of  all  these  funds  in  the  different  colleges  is 
well  indicated  by  the  circular  which  is  sent  out  by 
one  of  the  Presbyterian  colleges  of  Pennsylvania. 
It  reads  as  follows : 

Aid  is  given  to  students  who  would  otherwise  be  unable 
to  enjoy  the  advantages  of  a  liberal  education  under  the 
following  conditions : 

1.  The  sons  of  ministers  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
and  candidates  for  its  ministry  are  admitted  to  the  clas- 
sical and  Latin-scientific  courses  without  any  charge  for 
tuition  ;  while  in  the  technical  courses  one-half  of  their 

214 


Financial  Relations 

tuition  fees  is  remitted.     This  rule  may  be  extended  in 
special  cases  to  include  other  denominations. 

2.  Young  men  who  have  no  parents,  who  are  entirely 
dependent  upon  their  own  efforts  to  get  their  education, 
upon  presentation  of  proper  certificates  of  character,  in- 
dustry, and  their  inability  to  attend  college  without  aid, 
receive  such  assistance  as  may  be  available  at  the  time 
of  their  application,  not  exceeding  the  tuition  fee  in  the 
classical  and  Latin-scientific  courses,  or  one-half  the  tui- 
tion fee  in  the  technical  courses. 

3.  In  special  cases,  also,  aid  is  given  to  those  not  in- 
cluded in  the  foregoing  classes  by  the  loan  of  an  amount 
similar  to  the  aid  given  to  those  above  mentioned,  to  be 
repaid  in  a  given  period  without  interest.  The  period 
will  be  sufficiently  long  after  leaving  college  to  give  op- 
portunity for  the  borrower  to  become  established  in  his 
profession  or  business. 

A  third  form  of  aid  consists  in  the  granting  of 
loans  to  students.  This  represents  a  method  some- 
what new ;  for  it  has  been  only  within  the  past  few 
years  that  colleges  have  been  willing  to  loan  money 
to  students  in  large  aggregate  amounts  with  the 
hope  of  repayment.  Absolute  grants  or  gifts  had 
previously  been  made.  The  testimony  of  nearly 
all— but  not  all— college  presidents  is  in  favor  of 
loans  as  the  best  means  of  aid.  This  method,  of 
course,  labors  under  the  disadvantage  of  laying  a 
burden  upon  the  graduate ;  for  most  men  who  are 
poor  in  college  have  not  the  strength  or  the  means 
to  remove  the  debt  until  several  years  after  grad- 
uation. The  conditions  which  have  kept  them  in 
poverty  up  to  the  age  of  twenty-two  usually  tend 
to   continue    them   in  poverty  until  the   age   of 

215 


Financial  Relations 

twenty-six.  Such  a  debt  easily  proves  to  be  a 
financial  burden.  Certainly  it  is  not  well  for  a 
man  to  face  life  with  heavy  pecuniary  responsi- 
bilities resting  upon  him. 

But  the  advantages  of  the  system  of  loans  are 
great.  The  method  delivers  from  the  fear  of  pau- 
perizing the  student.  It  develops  self-respect  in 
the  student.  It  proves  to  be  a  less  serious  burden 
for  the  college  than  the  method  of  absolute  gifts ; 
for  the  loans  that  are  repaid  represent  an  incre- 
ment of  power  for  aiding  the  students  of  the 
future. 

The  testimony  of  many  college  presidents  upon 
the  loan  as  the  best  method  is  ample.  The  Presi- 
dent of  a  State  university  in  the  Middle  West 
says: 

I  am  emphatic  in  the  belief  that  all  pecuniary  aid 
should  be  granted  in  the  form  of  a  definite  loan.  Every 
dollar  of  this  should  be  repaid  with  reasonable  interest. 
Wherever  possible,  there  should  be  some  responsible  per- 
son as  indorser.  The  time  within  which  the  loan  is  to 
be  paid  may  be  so  extended  as  to  make  it  more  than 
reasonably  sure  that  repayment  can  be  made  without 
distressing  the  borrower :  but  the  interest  should  be  paid 
regularly ;  and  the  principal  should  at  least  be  provided 
for  by  a  new  note  when  it  becomes  due.  The  indorser 
should  understand  that  he  is  held  responsible  just  as  he 
would  be  upon  any  other  bank  paper.  It  seems  to  me 
that,  considering  the  long  time  of  the  loan  and  the  com- 
paratively small  amount,  no  man  of  real  promise  can  be 
so  situated  that  he  has  no  friend  who  will  back  him  in  a 
loan  of  this  kind.  The  borrower  should  be  made  clearly 
to  understand  that  the   only  generosity  in  this  whole 

216 


Financial  Relations 

matter  is  that  which  makes  it  possible  for  him  to  borrow, 
and  that  he  must  make  a  definite  return  in  order  that 
some  one  else  may  have  a  like  benefit. 

The  loans  that  are  thus  made  are,  however,  usually 
debts  of  honor,  and  they  are  usually  made  on  the 
pledge  that  they  will  be  repaid  when  the  student 
is  financially  able.  Of  the  condition  of  his  finan- 
cial ability  it  is  usually  allowed  that  the  student 
himself  shall  be  the  judge.  It  is  at  this  point  that 
colleges  are  passing  through  diverse  experiences. 
"  When  I  am  able,"  is  a  phrase  which  students  who 
have  become  graduates  and  have  entered  into 
money-making  professions  interpret  in  the  most 
diverse  ways.  For  instance,  one  student  who  is  earn- 
ing $600  as  a  teacher  judges  that  he  ought  to  pay  up 
his  college  debts,  and  does  pay  them  up.  Another 
student  earns  this  same  amount  of  money  for  one 
year,  straightway  feels  that  he  is  justified  in  be- 
coming a  husband,  and  soon  finds  that,  as  the  head 
of  a  family,  he  is  not  able  to  do  more  than  support 
his  wife  and  children.  One  student  who  has  bor- 
rowed $500  from  the  college  becomes  a  lawyer, 
receives  an  income  of  $1200,  leases  a  house  at  $20 
a  month,  and  judges  that  he  is  not  able  to  pay  his 
debt  to  the  college.  Another  graduate,  who  be- 
comes a  minister,  is  in  debt  to  the  college  $600,  is 
unmarried,  and  earns  a  salary  of  $800  a  year. 
Should  he  be  regarded  as  able  to  pay  his  col- 
lege debt?  Should,  for  instance,  a  student  who 
borrowed  from  the  college  the  sum  of  $700,  who  is 
earning  $650  as  a  teacher,  be  justified  in  saving  his 
money  in  order  to  go  to  Germany  to  win  his  doc- 

217 


Financial  Relations 


tor's  degree  and  thus  fit  himself  the  better  for 
teaching?  These  and  similar  problems  present 
themselves  in  the  experience  of  every  college 
administrator.  In  general,  the  colleges  are  hav- 
ing the  most  varied  experience  in  the  repayment 
of  loans.  The  President  of  a  small  although  first- 
rate  and  historic  college  in  central  New  York  says 
that  loans  which  he  makes  privately  out  of  funds 
under  his  personal  control  are  always  paid,  but 
that  loans  or  remissions  made  in  the  tuition  are 
defaulted  to  the  extent  of  about  one-half.  The 
President  of  a  New  England  college  writes : 

Our  experience  coincides  with  the  general  one,  that 
loans  are  held  as  very  light  obligations  by  the  students. 
The  working  of  our  loan  fund  has  been  a  great  disap* 
pointment.  ...  I  fear  that  the  almost  universal  practice 
of  indiscriminate  largess  has  debauched  and  demoralized 
the  financial  conscience  of  students. 

But  the  President  of  an  Ohio  college  makes 
the  following  statement  respecting  its  scholarship 
funds : 

The  fund  was  founded  in  September,   1882,  and  the 
original  amount  was  fifteen  thousand  dollars.     Half  of 
the  amount  repaid  is  to  be  added  to  the  principal. 
Present  endowment $17,544.05 


Total  assistance  loaned  . 
Total  loan  notes  matured 
Total  notes  taken  up  .  . 
Total  matured  and  unpaid 
Total  extended  by  treasurei 
Total  due  and  uncollected 
218 


15,710.00 
8,275.00 
5,088.10 
3,186.90 
1,260.00 
1,926.90 


Financial  Relations 

Experience  would  show  that  about  eight  per  cent,  of  the 
notes  (in  recent  years)  are  taken  up  before  maturity,  and 
fifty  per  cent,  at  maturity.  I  do  not  think  that  more  than 
one  per  cent.,  if  so  much,  is  wholly  uncollectable. 

The  President  of  a  Colorado  college  says : 

When  we  have  made  loans  we  have  had  very  good 
experience  in  having  the  money  paid  back  with  fair 
promptness. 

Another  college  President  in  one  of  the  Middle 
States  says  that  he  should  "  estimate  the  returned 
loans  at  about  thirty  per  cent,  of  the  entire  amounts 
loaned."  An  officer  of  another  conspicuous  college 
also  in  the  Middle  States  says : 

Students  whose  tuition  is  remitted,  and  who  do  not 
enter  the  ministry,  are  expected  to  refund  the  entire 
amount  after  graduation  as  soon  as  they  can  do  so  with- 
out serious  financial  embarrassment.  We  do  not  require 
a  written  obligation ;  and  few  ever  refund !  .  .  .  We 
have  a  small  loan  fund,  and  require  those  receiving  aid 
from  it  to  give  a  note  payable  one  year  after  graduation. 
These  notes  are  usually  paid. 

The  general  inference  to  be  derived  from  the 
experience  of  our  colleges  in  respect  to  the  repay- 
ment of  loans  is  that,  if  care  be  taken  in  the  mak- 
ing of  the  loans,  and  if  a  wise  endeavor  be  made  to 
secure  their  repayment,  the  larger  part  of  the 
amount  loaned  will  be  repaid.  But  it  is  also  evi- 
dent that,  if  care  and  pains  be  not  taken  in  the 
making  of  loans,  or  if  care  and  pains  be  lacking  in 

219 


Financial  Relations 

securing  repayment,  only  a  small  percentage  will  be 
repaid.  College  graduates,  like  all  other  members 
of  humanity,  need  to  be  reminded  of  their  obliga- 
tions. 

One  should  not  neglect  to  say  that  in  this  whole 
business  is  a  single  element  which  is  evil,  and  only 
evil.  This  element  relates  to  the  influence  of  the 
debt  over  the  man  who  owes  it,  who  in  ethical 
indifference  or  in  financial  irresponsibility  allows 
the  obligation  to  run  on  year  after  year  without 
making  any  attempt  to  remove  it.  The  condition 
in  which  he  allows  himself  to  be  arises  from  his 
lack  of  honor,  and  this  instance  of  his  faithlessness 
tends  to  augment  the  evil  out  of  which  it  itself 
springs.  If  he  be  at  all  sensitive,  too,  the  debt 
often  returns  to  his  mind  in  a  way  to  lessen  the 
pleasure  which  the  thought  of  his  college  ought  to 
give  him,  and  also  it  may  tend  to  lessen  the  thor- 
oughness of  his  enjoyment  in  many  of  the  plea- 
sures of  life  to  which  general  principles  give  him 
a  full  right.  It  is  to  be  said  that  there  are  stu- 
dents, and  poor  and  worthy  ones,  too,  to  whom  the 
college  should  not,  even  for  their  own  sake,  loan  a 
dollar.     They  must  be  saved  from  themselves. 

As  to  the  amount  that  should  thus  be  loaned  to 
students,  two  or  three  rules  are  evident :  First,  the 
amount  should  be  sufficient  to  make  an  education 
possible.  Second,  the  amount  should  not  be  so 
large  as  to  lessen  the  self-respect  or  the  self-activ- 
ity of  the  recipient.  And,  third,  the  amount  should 
be  sufficient  to  restrain  the  student  from  doing  too 
much  work  for  self-support;  for  the  college  finds 

220 


Financial  Relations 

that  certain  men  of  activity,  who  are  unwilling 
to  borrow  money,  sacrifice  the  value  of  their  col- 
lege course  for  the  sake  of  earning  money. 

One  remark  should  be  added  to  this  general  dis- 
cussion. It  is  the  lack  of  wisdom  shown  in  aiding 
special  classes  of  students.  For  generations  the 
American  college  has  been  inclined  to  aid  those 
who  propose  to  become  ministers,  and  also  those 
who  are  the  sons  of  ministers  or  of  missionaries. 
The  bestowal  of  this  kind  of  aid  has  arisen  in  no 
small  degree  from  the  colleges  being,  in  their 
origin,  institutions  for  the  education  of  ministers. 
The  larger  part  of  our  colleges,  too,  have  been 
founded  by  churches,  or  by  the  ministers  of  these 
churches.  Therefore  favor  has  been  shown  to  the 
sons  of  clergymen  and  to  those  who  propose  to 
become  clergymen.  It  cannot  now  be  doubted 
that  this  method  is  thoroughly  bad.  It  tends  to 
give  advantages  to  one  class — or  it  may  be  said 
that  it  tends  to  put  disadvantages  upon  one  class 
—of  students,  who  should  not  be  thus  subjected  to 
a  disadvantage,  and  who,  if  the  condition  be  re- 
garded as  an  advantage,  should  not  receive  this 
benefit.  Students  in  colleges  do  not,  as  a  rule, 
possess  sufficient  maturity,  or  have  not  adequately 
considered  the  purpose  of  their  collegiate  career, 
to  make  a  just  claim  for  pecuniary  aid  upon  this 
ground.  Let  students  be  aided  as  individuals,  but 
never  let  them  be  helped  because  they  are,  or  pro- 
pose to  be,  members  of  a  certain  professional  or 
other  class. 

I  do  not  now  say  a  word  with  reference  to  those 

22  I 


Financial  Relations 

who  propose  to  become  ministers  who  have  already 
entered  upon  their  professional  studies.  This  is  a 
question  entirely  apart  from  granting  aid  to  them 
while  they  are  undergraduates. 

The  following  principles  emerge  from  these  con- 
siderations, which  should  be  maintained  in  giving 
aid  to  students  in  college : 

1.  Every  grant  of  aid  should  be  made  upon  the 
ground  of  the  claims  of  the  individual  concerned. 
The  good  health  and  promise  of  life  of  the  appli- 
cant should  be  considered. 

2.  In  granting  aid,  evidence  should  be  based  so 
far  as  possible  upon  the  man  himself  rather  than 
upon  testimony  about  the  man. 

3.  The  amount  of  aid  granted  should  vary 
according  to  the  need,  character,  and  promise  of 
usefulness  of  the  applicant. 

4.  In  case  testimony  is  required,  the  testimony 
should  be  secured  from  witnesses  outside  the  appli- 
cant's family  as  well  as  within. 

5.  All  aid  should  promote  the  self-respect  and 
manliness  of  the  student  receiving  it. 

6.  No  aid  should  be  given  to  classes  of  students 
as  classes. 

7.  All  grants  of  aid  should  be  confined  to  one 
year ;  and  no  assurance  should  be  given  of  aid  for 
more  than  one  year,  unless  the  grounds  of  the 
award  still  obtain. 

8.  Every  wise  and  proper  means  should  be  used 
to  impress  upon  the  student  the  debt  of  gratitude 
that  he  owes  the  college ;  but  there  should  be  no 
badgering. 

222 


Financial  Relations 

9.   The  college  should  follow  up  each  loan  with 
courteous  care,  in  order  to  secure  repayment. 


IV 

USELESS   THOUGH   WELL-MEANT  ENDOWMENT 

Not  for  one  instant  can  it  be  doubted  that  the 
cause  of  the  higher  education  represents  the  best 
object  for  the  bestowal  of  general  benevolence.  Mr. 
Courtney  Stanhope  Kenny,  in  his  remarkable  book, 
"Endowed  Charities"  (pp.  238-2-40),  suggests  six 
rules  for  benevolence : 

1.  Of  two  ways  of  palliating  an  evil,  we  must  choose 
the  more  powerful. 

2.  Relief  which  removes  the  causes  of  the  evil  is  better 
than  that  which  palliates  or  increases  it. 

3.  If  we  must  choose  among  forms  of  relief  that  only 
assuage  the  evil  without  removing  its  cause,  those— if  of 
equal  potency— are  to  be  preferred  which  produce  least 
new  evil. 

4.  The  graver  the  evil,  the  more  desirable  is  the  charity 
that  relieves  it. 

5.  An  inevitable  evil  is  more  deserving  of  relief  than 
an  avoidable  one. 

6.  An  unexpected  evil  is  more  deserving  of  relief  than 
one  that  could  be  foreseen. 

These  rules  are  wise,  but  it  is  to  be  said  at 
once  that  they  are  largely  of  a  negative  charac- 
ter; they  are  rules,  too,  rather  than  principles. 
A  principle    of    benevolence,    as    that    principle 

22  3 


Financial  Relations 

may  be  applied  to  endowment,  is  that  endowments 
should  be  given  to  those  philanthropic  works  the 
demand  for  which  we  wish  to  increase.  Although 
this  principle  has  certain  evident  limitations  or 
exceptions,  yet  its  application  is  broad  and  gen- 
erally sound.  It  applies  to  the  ordinary  stable 
conditions  of  life.  One  does  not  wish  the  de- 
mand for  poorhouses  to  increase,  and  poorhouses 
should  not  be  endowed;  one  does  not  wish  the 
demand  for  institutions  and  agencies  for  relieving 
the  poor  to  increase,  and  no  one  of  these  institu- 
tions and  agencies  is  a  worthy  object  for  endow- 
ment. But  one  does  wish  the  demand  for  education, 
higher  and  lower,  and  the  demand  for  scientific  re- 
search, to  increase,  and  these  causes  are  worthy 
objects  of  endowment.  By  endowing  poorhouses 
one  makes  paupers;  by  endowing  colleges  one 
makes  scholars.  Each  endowment  creates  what 
it  is  ordained  to  create. 

It  is  to  be  said  that  the  famous  arguments  of 
Turgot  and  of  Adam  Smith  against  foundations 
have  rather  gained  than  diminished  in  force  as 
the  arguments  are  applied  to  causes  other  than  the 
higher  education.  Turgot's  argument  in  the  article 
on  "  Foundations  "  in  the  "  Encyclopedic  "  is  still  a 
masterpiece.  He  states  that  the  intellectual  diffi- 
culties are  so  great,  and  the  social  problems  so 
complex,  which  one  who  wishes  to  be  a  founder 
must  meet,  that  he  must  be  the  boldest  man  who 
would  be  willing  to  run  such  risks.  It  is  difficult, 
too,  for  the  philanthropist  to  diagnose  the  disease 
and  to   distinguish  its   essential  nature  beneath 

224 


Financial  Relations 

superficial  appearances.  He  is  in  peril  of  mistak- 
ing effect  for  cause,  and  cause  for  effect.  Even  if  he 
has,  at  great  pains,  reached  the  root  of  the  disease, 
the  difficulty  of  discovering  a  remedy  is  no  less 
great.  Many  remedies  which  have  been  applied 
have  increased  the  evil,  as,  for  instance,  the  erec- 
tion of  foundling  hospitals,  which  has  tended  to 
augment  the  evil  out  of  which  the  need  for  such 
hospitals  has  grown.  Furthermore,  if  a  proper 
remedy  be  discovered  for  an  evil  for  a  short  time, 
it  is  very  much  more  difficult  to  apply  this  remedy 
through  the  long  time  in  which  a  foundation  is 
supposed  to  last.  The  difficulties,  therefore,  of 
making  a  worthy  foundation  are  so  great  that 
Turgot  believes  that  it  is  better  not  to  attempt  to 
lay  foundations. 

This  argument  is  reinforced  by  Adam  Smith. 
The  great  economist  asks : 

Have  these  public  endowments  contributed  in  general 
to  promote  the  end  of  their  institutions?  Have  they 
contributed  to  encourage  the  diligence  and  to  improve 
the  abilities  of  the  teachers?  Have  they  directed  the 
course  of  education  toward  objects  more  useful,  both  to 
the  individual  and  to  the  public,  than  those  to  which  it 
would  naturally  have  gone  of  its  own  accord?  ...  In 
every  profession  the  exertion  of  the  greater  part  of  those 
who  exercise  it  is  always  in  proportion  to  the  necessity 
they  are  under  of  making  that  exertion.  .  .  .  The  endow- 
ments of  schools  and  colleges  have  necessarily  diminished 
more  or  less  the  necessity  of  application  in  the  teachers.1 

1  "The  Wealth  of  Nations,"  Book  V,  Part  in.  Chap.  I.  Art.  II, 
"  Of  the  Expense  of  the  Institutions  for  the  Education  of  Youth." 

is  225 


Financial  Relations 

But  it  is  to  be  said  that  the  argument  of  Turgot  is 
directed  toward  the  limitation  of  certain  evils ;  it  is 
not  directed  toward  the  augmentation  of  the  good. 
It  is  evident  that  his  argument  does  not  apply  to 
educational  endowments  with  anything  like  the 
force  with  which  it  applies  to  charitable  endow- 
ments. The  pursuit  of  knowledge,  the  promotion 
of  research,  the  offering  of  opportunities  for  cul- 
ture, the  establishment  of  facilities  for  learning, 
will  represent  the  worthiest  objects  so  long  as 
humanity  has  a  being  at  all  like  its  present  being. 
The  evils  which  the  great  Frenchman  alludes  to, 
however  alarming  in  the  case  of  many  charities  of 
England,  do  not  appear  in  the  administrations  of 
the  two  oldest  and  most  illustrious  universities 
of  England.  These  evils,  too,  have  never  appeared 
in  any  appreciable  degree  in  the  life  and  work  of 
American  colleges. 

In  reference  to  the  argument  of  Adam  Smith,  it 
is  to  be  said,  and  briefly,  that  endowment  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  the  carrying  on  of  the  higher 
education.  The  revenue  derived  from  fees  is  far 
from  being  sufficient  to  support  the  college  or  the 
university.  The  general  evil  to  which  he  alludes 
may  attend  the  establishment  of  certain  founda- 
tions, but  without  the  foundations  no  university 
could  maintain  its  existence  for  a  year.  The  uni- 
versities of  England,  of  the  United  States,  and  of 
Germany  are  alike  in  not  being  able  to  support 
themselves  on  the  fees  received  from  their  stu- 
dents. 

The  proper  province  of  endowment  is  repre- 
226 


Financial  Relations 

sented  in  the  spiritual  and  intellectual  interests  of 
man  rather  than  in  his  physical  and  material  in- 
terests. Voluntary  benevolence  need  not  concern 
itself  with  evils  which  the  state  can  and  will 
remedy.  Those  evils  which  are  the  most  obvious 
are  physical  and  material  evils.  Private  and  vol- 
untary benevolence  should  therefore  concern  itself 
first  with  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  welfare  of 
man.  The  individual  need  not  attempt  to  do  that 
which  the  community  as  a  legal  corporate  body  will 
do.  It  is  also  to  be  said,  and  with  gratitude,  that 
organized  society  is  constantly  enlarging  its  field 
of  beneficence;  it  is  constantly  taking  up  work 
and  works  which  were  formerly  done  through  in- 
dividuals. As  the  man  who  is  by  nature  a  pioneer 
retires  into  the  forest  at  each  advance  of  orderly 
and  civilized  society,  so  the  pioneer  in  good  works 
surrenders  fields  which  he  has  formerly  worked 
to  the  organized  beneficence  of  the  community. 
The  kindergarten  schools  of  certain  cities  were 
established  and  maintained  for  years  by  private 
beneficence.  Their  usefulness  in  time  became  so 
evident  that  they  have  been  incorporated  into  the 
public-school  system.  The  relief  of  the  poor  was 
formerly  a  matter  for  private  beneficence.  It  has 
now  largely  come  to  be  a  matter  of  public  and  legal 
action.  The  physical  and  material  evils  of  human- 
ity are  more  evident  to  the  ordinary  observer  than 
the  spiritual  and  intellectual  needs,  and  these  more 
evident  needs  are  first  taken  up  by  the  community, 
and  afterward  the  less  apparent  ones— the  spiritual 
and  intellectual.     And  therefore,  until  the  organ- 

227 


Financial  Relations 

ized  community  is  able  to  perceive  these  spiritual 
and  intellectual  needs,  and  to  supply  them,  they 
present  the  most  promising  field  for  voluntary 
and  personal  beneficence. 

One  cannot  deny  that  the  history  of  endowments 
other  than  educational  is,  on  the  whole,  a  rather 
sad  one.  Such  history  hardly  belongs  to  the 
United  States.  This  nation  is  altogether  too 
young,  and  has  been  too  poor,  to  have  made 
much  history  of  this  character.  Yet  when  one 
turns  to  the  mother-country  he  finds  that  the 
time  has  been  long  enough  and  wealth  has  been 
sufficient  to  allow  the  making  of  a  history  of  en- 
dowed charities.  This  history  furnishes  sufficient 
opportunity  for  keen  and  profound  analysis  and 
diagnosis.  For  the  evils  of  the  community  have 
not  been  understood.  Remedies  have  not  been 
adjusted  to  the  evils.  Sums  too  large  have  been 
donated  to  remove  small  evils,  and  the  result  has 
been  an  increase  of  evils ;  sums  too  small  have  been 
donated  to  remove  large  evils,  and  the  result  has 
been  unremunerative  expenditure.  Help  has  too 
often  been  given  in  such  a  way  as  to  take  away 
the  power  of  self-help.  Endowments  have  been 
rendered  superfluous  through  change  of  conditions. 
The  law  of  proportions  has  not  been  observed. 
Some  instances  of  these  proportions  are  fur- 
nished by  Mr.  Kenny  in  his  book,  "Endowed 
Charities  " : 

Admiral  B.  M.  Kelly  left  ninety  thousand  pounds 
to  found  a  school  for  sons  of  officers  in  the  navy. 
The  lads  were  to  have  a  first-class  education  up  to  the 

228 


Financial  Relations 

age  of  eighteen.  But  the  head-master's  salary  was  only 
to  amount  to  "  the  value  of  one  hundred  bushels  of 
wheat/'  which,  as  the  charity  commissioners  said,  was 
"  ludicrously  inadequate."  Many  further  difficulties 
arose  "  from  the  minuteness  with  which  the  testator,  who 
was  a  sailor,  and  evidently  knew  little  about  schools," 
had  given  directions. 

We  have  pointed  out  many  important  endowments 
where  very  large  funds  are  producing  at  present  little  or 
even  no  result.  Thus,  Thame  Grammar  School  had  two 
masters  and  one  boy  ;  and  those  at  Sutton  Coldfield  (en- 
dowed with  £467  a  year),  Mancetter  (£288  a  year),  and 
Little  Walsingham  (£110  a  year)  were  sometimes  with- 
out any  boys  at  all,  while  the  evidence  of  the  assistant 
commissioners  included  such  testimony  as  the  following : 
"At  Bath  an  income  of  £46J.  appears  to  hinder  rather 
than  promote  the  education  of  the  citizens,  and  does 
nothing  for  the  neighborhood."  "The  fine  foundation 
at  Market  Bosworth,  now  £792  a  year,  is  reported  to  be 
at  present  useless."  Gloucestershire  and  Herefordshire 
require  special  notice  for  the  generally  unsatisfactory 
condition  of  their  endowed  schools.  "Gloucestershire 
has  seventeen  foundations  for  secondary  education,  and 
none  of  these  is  reported  to  be  at  all  efficient."  "It  is 
difficult  to  understand  that  Masham  School  serves  any 
useful  purpose."  "A  school  of  this  kind  [Easingwold] 
does  great  harm  to  the  community."  "  This  school 
[Bridlington]  in  its  present  state  hinders  rather  than 
promotes  the  civilization  of  the  place."  "Much  of  the 
vitality  of  Doncaster  School  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  it 
possesses  none  of  the  wealth  which  in  so  many  instances 
proves  to  be  an  encouragement  to  indolence." 

Mr.  Cumin  tells  the  story  of  an  old  lady  who  gave  away 
twenty  pounds'  worth  of  flannel  every  Christmas.  The 
Christmas  after  she  died  the  poor  people  came  to  the 

229 


Financial  Relations 

rector  and  complained,  "  If  we  had  known  she  was  going 
to  die,  we  would  have  saved  our  harvest  money  and  bought 
flannel." 

An  instance  of  a  very  comprehensive  and  yet  very 
futile  foundation  is  afforded  by  that  of  Mr.  Henry  Smith, 
who  in  1626  left  large  sums  for  four  objects.  Part  was 
to  go  in  redeeming  captives  from  pirates ;  but  since  1723 
no  captive  has  been  found  on  whom  it  could  be  spent. 
Part,  now  producing  £8235  a  year,  was  to  go  in  doles, 
and  is  distributed,  with  the  usual  results,  among  209  dis- 
tricts, in  one  of  which  it  is  given  to  one  household  out  of 
every  two,  in  another  to  two  households  out  of  every 
three,  and  in  another,  according  to  the  vicar,  "a  charity 
was  never  worse  applied;  its  effects  are  demoralizing." 
Part,  again,  was  reserved  for  Mr.  Smith's  poor  relations, 
and  is  still  distributed  among  them  to  the  extent  of 
£6797  a  year,  with  the  result  of  making  it  the  interest 
of  some  hundreds  of  persons  not  to  work  and  get  on  in 
life.  The  final  part  was  to  be  devoted  to  buying  impro- 
priations for  preachers,  and  its  income  is  distributed 
among  the  poor  clergy,  though  the  resulting  benefit  is 
found  to  be  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  disap- 
pointment caused  to  the  unsuccessful  applicants,  the 
trouble  of  the  canvassing,  and  the  perilous  habit  which 
it  too  often  inspires  of  begging  with  colorable  tales  of 
poverty. 

These  instances,  which,  though  numerous,  might 
be  greatly  increased,  are  more  than  sufficient  to 
prove  the  downright,  sheer,  absolute  foolishness 
of  many  benevolent  men.  On  the  whole,  men's 
hearts  are  better  than  their  heads,  their  wills  than 
their  intellects.  Men  often  choose  the  highest 
objects   known   to  them,  and  with  the  heartiest 

230 


Financial  Relations 

enthusiasm  adopt  schemes  of  benevolence  which 
seem  to  them  the  wisest.  But  their  knowledge  is 
narrow,  and  their  schemes  for  executing  their 
benevolent  intentions  are  not  wise.  The  number 
of  men  and  women  who  every  day  are  devoting 
their  fortunes,  time,  and  labor  to  benevolence  is 
constantly  increasing.  One  cannot  witness  these 
abounding  examples  of  sacrifice  without  feelings 
of  the  deepest  gratitude.  But  one  is  too  often 
saddened  and  chagrined  on  learning  that  these 
benevolences,  so  generously  conceived,  are  not  the 
product  of  a  comprehensive  and  reflective  wisdom. 
Too  often  they  represent  wasted  labor  and  fruitless 
self-sacrifice. 

Such  a  condition,  however,  does  not  usually 
belong  to  endowments  given  to  the  higher  educa- 
tion; for  the  cause  of  the  higher  education  is  so 
comprehensive,  and  its  interests  so  diverse,  that  it 
is  only  with  extreme  and  most  complete  foolishness 
that  one  can  make  a  mistake  in  giving  to  the  col- 
lege or  university.  For  the  university  is  designed 
to  make  the  best  man ;  and  it  commands  the  ser- 
vices of  the  best  men  as  teachers  of  youth,  as 
trustees  of  funds,  and  as  administrators  of  large 
undertakings.  No  corporations  in  the  United 
States  are  able  to  command  so  great  talent  as  the 
college  corporations.  One  reason  of  this  present 
condition  is  found  in  the  exalted  purposes  which 
the  college  is  ordained  to  secure.  A  further  reason 
lies  in  the  fact  that  the  financial  trusts  placed  in 
these  administrators  are  large.  The  great  number 
of  small  endowments  made  in  the  cause  of  charity 

231 


Financial  Relations 

in  England  has  in  many  cases  resulted  in  waste, 
because  the  smallness  of  these  sums  could  not 
command  men  of  ability  in  their  management. 
But  the  American  college  holding  large  sums  of 
money  has  been  able  to  secure  the  wisest  legal 
talent  and  the  most  worthy  moral  ability.  It  is 
also  not  to  be  forgotten  that  the  college  stands  for 
certain  lasting  needs  of  humanity.  One  can  hardly 
conceive  of  changes  occurring  in  the  race  so  great 
as  to  render  the  need  of  a  trained  judgment  and 
the  usefulness  of  stores  of  knowledge  superfluous. 
The  changes  in  the  condition  of  humanity  have 
rendered  many  trusts  absolutely  worthless.  Such 
changes  cannot,  with  any  degree  of  probability, 
occur  in  those  conditions  which  education  repre- 
sents to  such  an  extent  that  funds  given  to  that 
cause  will  become  worthless. 

Furthermore,  the  higher  education  represents 
conditions  which  are  the  least  obtrusive.  The 
physical  sufferings  of  man  appeal,  as  I  have  inti- 
mated, to  every  one;  his  intellectual  wants  do 
not.  Those  persons,  therefore,  to  whom  these 
wants  do  appeal  as  worthy  should  be  especially 
solicitous  to  fill  them.  The  college  and  the  uni- 
versity also  appeal  to  the  benevolence  of  the 
individual  through  the  fact  that  it  is  a  question 
how  far  the  community  should  tax  itself  for  the 
promotion  of  the  higher  intellectual  welfare.  But 
there  is  no  question  that  the  higher  intellectual 
interests  of  men  are  vitally  related  to  all  the  in- 
terests of  humanity.  It  is  therefore  of  supreme 
importance  that  these  interests  be  conserved,  and 

2}2 


Financial  Relations 

they  therefore  present  themselves  to  one  who 
has  the  welfare  of  the  race  at  heart  with  peculiar 
persuasiveness.  It  is,  moreover,  never  to  be  for- 
gotten that  the  college  represents  the  most  com- 
prehensive interest  of  humanity.  This  considera- 
tion is  well  exemplified  in  the  fact  that,  in  the 
revision  of  English  charities  by  the  charity  com- 
missioners, the  cause  of  education  was  judged  to 
be  the  best  cause  to  receive  endowments  which 
had  been  created  for  purposes  and  objects  now 
no  longer  possible  of  fulfilment.  It  was  agreed 
that  endowments  which  had  been  established  for 
the  following  purposes — "  doles  in  money  or  kind ; 
marriage  portions;  redemption  of  prisoners  and 
captives ;  relief  of  poor  prisoners  for  debt ;  loans ; 
apprenticeship  fees ;  advancement  in  life ;  or  any 
purposes  which  have  failed  altogether  or  have  be- 
come insignificant  in  comparison  with  the  magni- 
tude of  the  endowment,  if  originally  given  to 
charitable  uses  in  or  before  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  and  eight  hundred  " l —  should  be 
applied  to  the  advancement  of  education. 

Truths  of  this  character,  recognized  throughout 
the  history  of  this  country,  and  especially  in  the 
last  seventy-five  years,  have  resulted  in  the  dona- 
tion of  large  sums  of  money  to  American  colleges 
and  universities.  In  England  the  money  that  is 
given  to  public  uses  usually  goes  to  the  establish- 
ment of  a  charity.  There  poverty  has  become  a 
disease ;  charity  deals  with  it  as  a  disease.  In  Eng- 
land, too,  the  interest  of  wealthy  men  is  largely 

i  Kenny,  "Endowed  Charities,"  p.  198. 
233 


Financial  Relations 

given  to  the  establishment  of  a  family.  One  can- 
not read  the  wills  of  Englishmen  without  seeing 
that  money  is  usually  retained  in  the  family.  Such 
a  purpose  or  principle  of  founding  a  family  has 
small  value  in  a  new  country.  One  reason  of  this 
condition  is  found  in  the  fact  that  in  the  newer 
country  families  are  not  permanent.  They  are 
like  a  wheel— in  constant  revolution ;  the  highest 
part  soon  becomes  the  lowest,  and  the  lowest  high- 
est. There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  strong  desire 
to  make  them  permanent.  In  England  the  domes- 
tic and  the  charitable  demands  for  money  are  so 
great  that  Oxford  and  Cambridge  are  failing  to 
receive  their  just  proportion.  In  the  United  States 
institutions  are  more  permanent  than  families; 
and  of  all  our  institutions  those  of  the  higher 
education — the  college,  the  university — are  the 
most  permanent.  The  colleges  and  the  univer- 
sities are  therefore  the  objects  of  special  benevo- 
lence. 

In  making  an  educational  or  other  foundation  a 
founder  should  bear  in  mind  that  his  foundation 
is  designed  to  last  forever.  He  should  therefore 
constantly  have  in  sight  the  fact  that  the  future 
is  sure  to  bring  fundamental  changes,  and  he 
should  not  make  the  conditions  attending  his  gift 
so  exact  that  it  may  at  some  time  become  worthless 
through  the  impossibility  of  their  fulfilment.  It 
is  said  that  there  are  more  than  two  thousand  en- 
dowments for  primary  education  in  England  which 
are  now  rendered  absolutely  unnecessary  through 
the  establishment  of  schools  aided  by  the  govern- 

234 


Financial  Relations 

ment.  A  founder,  therefore,  should  in  general  be 
content  with  a  statement  of  his  comprehensive 
purpose.  He  will  find  it  far  better  to  trust  the 
men  of  the  future  than  to  try  to  perpetuate  pres- 
ent methods. 

This  endeavor  to  make  the  standards  and 
methods  of  the  time  of  a  founder  the  standards 
and  methods  of  all  time  receives  illustration  in  our 
own  recent  history.  The  endeavor  to  give  an  exact 
interpretation  to  certain  terms  in  the  fundamental 
instruments  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  An- 
dover  resulted  in  serious  loss  to  the  seminary; 
and  the  endeavor  of  certain  members  and  friends 
of  the  official  Board  of  the  seminary  to  interpret 
the  ancient  documents  in  the  light  of  general  prin- 
ciples has  seemed  to  some  to  result  in  a  failure 
rightly  to  appreciate  the  importance  of  the  specific 
trust  that  was  committed  to  the  Board.  Harvard 
College,  too,  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  received  a  gift  to  found  a  certain  lecture- 
ship under  certain  conditions.  By  his  last  will 
Paul  Dudley  "  gave  to  Harvard  College  one  hun- 
dred pounds  sterling,  to  be  applied  as  he  should 
direct ;  and  by  an  instrument  under  his  hand  and 
seal  he  afterward  ordered  the  yearly  interest  to 
be  applied  to  supporting  an  anniversary  sermon 
or  lecture,  to  be  preached  at  the  college,  on  the 
following  topics.  The  first  lecture  was  to  be  'for 
the  proving,  explaining,  and  proper  use  and 
improvement  of  the  principles  of  natural  reli- 
gion'; the  second,  'for  the  confirmation,  illustra- 
tion, and  improvement  of  the  great  articles  of  the 

235 


Financial  Relations 

Christian  religion';  the  third,  'for  the  detecting, 
convicting,  and  exposing  the  idolatry,  errors,  and 
superstitions  of  the  Romish  Church';  the  fourth, 
'for  maintaining,  explaining,  and  proving  the 
validity  of  the  ordination  of  ministers  or  pastors 
of  the  churches,  and  of  their  administration  of  the 
sacraments  or  ordinances  of  religion,  as  the  same 
hath  been  practised  in  New  England  from  the  first 
beginning  of  it,  and  so  continued  to  this  day.'"1 
In  the  college  year  of  1890-91  the  Dudleyan  lecturer 
was  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  John  J.  Keane,  at  that 
time  rector  of  the  Catholic  University  of  America. 
His  subject,  it  should  be  added,  was :  "  For  the  con- 
firmation, illustration,  and  improvement  of  the  great 
articles  of  the  Christian  religion,  properly  so  called, 
or  the  revelation  which  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God,  was  pleased  to  make,  first  by  himself,  and 
afterward  by  his  holy  apostles,  to  his  church  and 
the  world  for  their  salvation." 

Gifts  made  to  a  college  or  any  other  philanthropic 
institutions  are  very  liable  to  reflect  the  conditions 
of  the  times.  The  gifts  made  to  Yale  College  in 
the  administration  of  President  Clap,  1740-6G,  are 
largely  qualified  by  the  religious  and  ecclesiastical 
beliefs  and  controversies  of  the  middle  decades 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  Certain  scholarships  in 
the  Yale  Divinity  School  can  be  enjoyed  only  by 
those  who  are  "  of  decided  and  hearty  anti-slavery 
character,  sentiments,  and  sympathies."  It  is  suffi- 
cient to  say  that  these  scholarships  were  established 
in  the  year  186-4. 

1  Josiak  Quincy,  "History  of  Harvard  University,"  Vol.  II,  p.  139. 

236 


Financial  Relations 

It  is  not  wise  for  a  founder  to  say  exactly  what 
men  shall  believe,  or  in  what  terms  they  shall  ex- 
press their  belief,  a  hundred  years,  or  two  hundred 
years,  or  five  thousand  years  after  he  is  dead.  It 
is  wiser  for  him  to  intrust  his  general  purpose,  with- 
out specific  conditions,  to  the  men  of  the  future.  Yet 
it  is  to  be  presumed  that  certain  founders  will  be 
short-sighted,  and  that  the  most  generous  may  lack 
wisdom.  It  is  therefore  fitting  that  the  state 
should  take  upon  itself  the  duty  of  supervising,  so 
far  as  it  is  able,  all  foundations  and  trusts,  and 
also  of  ultimately  reversing  all  those  which  fail  to 
secure  their  purposes.  The  need  is  not  so  great  in 
America  as  in  England;  but  even  in  America  it 
would  be  well  for  the  state  to  maintain  a  board  of 
supervisors  of  philanthropic  foundations.  As  Mr. 
Kenny  says : 

The  periodical  investigation  of  charity  affairs  by  a  cen- 
tral authority  is  requisite  to  stimulate  the  activity  of  the 
administrators  and  the  economy  of  their  administration. 
For  the  former  purpose,  the  state  must  periodically  in- 
quire if  the  number  of  administrators  is  being  kept  up  by 
new  elections  to  its  normal  standard,  and  with  what 
regularity  each  of  them  attends  the  meetings  of  the  body. 
For  the  latter,  it  must  periodically  inquire  into  the 
receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  charity.  The  returns  of 
actual  revenue  must,  of  course,  be  checked  by  comparison 
with  the  amount  of  the  revenue-producing  capital.  Of 
that  amount  the  state  must  furnish  itself  with  exact  in- 
formation by  requiring  the  immediate  registration  of 
every  charitable  gift.  In  old  countries,  where  philan- 
thropy has  run  a  long  course  before  the  national  life  has 

237 


Financial  Relations 

reached  the  stage  of  centralization  at  which  such  a  reg- 
ister becomes  possible,  its  contents  (like  the  English  en- 
rolments under  the  Act  of  1736)  will  cover  only  the  later 
foundations.  In  such  a  case  it  must  be  supplemented  by 
a  general  inquiry  into  the  present  wealth  of  the  earlier 
ones.1 

This  need  of  the  revision  of  foundations  is 
clearly  expressed  by  John  Stuart  Mill  in  one  of  his 
essays.     He  says : 

At  the  head  of  the  foundations  which  existed  in  the 
time  of  Turgot  was  the  Catholic  hierarchy,  then  almost 
effete,  which  had  become  irreconcilably  hostile  to  the 
progress  of  the  human  mind,  because  that  progress  was 
no  longer  compatible  with  belief  in  its  tenets,  and  which, 
to  stand  its  ground  against  the  advance  of  incredulity, 
had  been  driven  to  knit  itself  closely  with  the  temporal 
despotism,  to  which  it  had  once  been  a  substantial,  and 
the  only  existing,  impediment  and  control.  After  this 
came  monastic  bodies,  constituted  ostensibly  for  the  pur- 
pose, which  derived  their  value  chiefly  from  superstition, 
and  now  not  even  fulfilling  what  they  professed,  bodies 
of  most  of  which  the  very  existence  had  become  one  vast 
and  continued  imposture.  Next  came  universities  and 
academical  institutions,  which  had  once  taught  all  that 
was  then  known,  but,  having  ever  since  indulged  their 
ease  by  remaining  stationary,  found  it  for  their  interest 
that  knowledge  should  do  so,  too— institutions  for  edu- 
cation which  kept  a  century  behind  the  community  they 
affected  to  educate,  who,  when  Descartes  appeared,  pub- 
licly censured  him  for  differing  from  Aristotle,  and, 
when  Newton  appeared,  anathematized  him  for  differing 
from  Descartes.  There  were  hospitals  which  killed  more 
1  Kenny,  "Endowed  Charities,"  p.  134. 
238 


Financial  Relations 

of  their  unhappy  patients  than  they  cured ;  and  charities 
of  which  the  superintendents,  like  the  licentiate  in  "  Gil 
Bias/'  got  rich  by  taking  care  of  the  affairs  of  the  poor, 
or  which  at  best  made  twenty  beggars  by  giving  or 
pretending  to  give  a  miserable  and  dependent  pittance 
to  one. 

The  foundations,  therefore,  were  among  the  grossest 
and  most  conspicuous  of  the  familiar  abuses  of  the  time ; 
and  beneath  their  shade  nourished  and  multiplied  large 
classes  of  men  by  interest  and  habit  the  protectors  of  all 
abuses  whatsoever.  What  wonder  that  a  life  spent  in 
practical  struggle  against  abuses  should  have  strongly 
prepossessed  Turgot  against  foundations  in  general.  Yet 
the  evils  existed,  not  because  there  were  foundations,  but 
because  those  foundations  were  perpetuities,  and  because 
provision  was  not  made  for  their  continual  modification 
to  meet  the  wants  of  each  successive  age.1 

Every  college,  like  every  bank,  in  the  United 
States,  should  frequently  submit  to  a  board  con- 
stituted by  legal  authority  a  statement  of  its  finan- 
cial condition,  of  the  various  trusts  under  which 
it  holds  its  funds,  and  of  the  use  which  it  makes 
of  the  income  thence  derived.  Every  institution 
of  charity  should  be  constantly  ready  to  give  an 
account  of  its  stewardship.  The  State  should 
supervise  trusts  which  are  made  under  its  au- 
thority. The  need  of  this  supervision  is  not  at 
present  urgent ;  for  college  funds  are  small,  they 
are  at  present  well  managed,  and  the  period  of  our 
national  existence  has  not  been  long  enough  to 
introduce  many  fundamental  changes  into  society. 

i  Mill,  "Dissertations  and  Discussions,"  Vol.  I,  p.  52. 
239 


Financial  Relations 

But  it  will  become  urgent  with  enlarging  collegiate 
wealth  and  increasing  diversity  of  conditions. 

This  review  brings  us  to  certain  rather  impor- 
tant conclusions,  for  the  number  of  people  in  the 
United  States  who  desire  to  make  the  noblest  and 
most  lasting  use  of  their  wealth  is  already  large 
and  is  constantly  increasing.  One  conclusion  is 
that  it  is  not  the  part  of  wisdom  to  surround  a 
foundation  with  very  specific  conditions.  A  second 
is  that  if  a  gift  is  so  surrounded,  means  of  relief 
should  be  afforded  in  a  general  permission  to  use  it 
in  the  promotion  of  a  general  purpose.  A  third  con- 
clusion is  that  a  founder  should  trust  the  men  of  the 
future  to  carry  out  his  general  purpose.  He  should 
not  lay  down  certain  narrow  methods  or  merely 
technical  rules  for  their  following.  The  good  men 
of  a.d.  3901  will  have  more  wisdom  for  administer- 
ing a  trust  made  two  thousand  years  before  than 
any  man  living  in  1901  can  suggest  to  them.  The 
last  conclusion,  which  English  and  American  his- 
tory confirms,  is  that  the  agency  through  which 
wealth— be  it  ten  thousand  dollars  or  ten  millions 
— is  most  certain  of  doing  the  most  good,  to  the 
most  people,  for  the  longest  time,  and  in  the  widest 
realms,  is  the  college  and  the  university. 

V 

FREEDOM    FROM    TAXATION 

The  constitutions  of  the  several  States  usually 
declare  that  every  member  of  society  shall  pay  his 

240 


Financial  Relations 

just  share  toward  the  support  of  the  government. 
It  is  affirmed  that  all  property  shall  bear  its  proper 
proportion  of  taxation.  The  constitutions  of  the 
several  States  also  make  certain  exemptions  from 
taxation.  These  exemptions  usually  include  pub- 
lic school-houses  and  apparatus,  churches,  public 
libraries,  academies,  colleges,  and  universities. 

The  constitutional  provisions  respecting  exemp- 
tions are  commonly  made  good  in  the  statutory  law. 
This  law  is  differently  expressed  in  the  statutes 
of  the  different  States,  but  in  general  the  law  is 
the  same.  It  exempts  from  taxation  property 
used  for  collegiate  and  similar  purposes.  In  Mas- 
sachusetts a  well-known  statute1  declares,  "The 
personal  property  of  literary,  benevolent,  charita- 
ble, and  scientific  institutions  and  temperance 
societies  incorporated  within  this  common  wealth, 
and  the  real  estate  belonging  to  such  institutions 
occupied  by  them  or  their  officers  for  the  purposes 
for  which  they  were  incorporated,"  are  free  from 
taxation.  The  Connecticut  statute  is  more  specific. 
It  runs  as  follows :  "  Funds  and  estates  which  have 
been  or  may  be  granted  to  the  President  and  Fel- 
lows of  Yale  College,  Trinity  College,  or  Wesleyan 
University,  and  by  them  respectively  invested 
and  held  for  the  use  of  such  institutions,  shall, 
with  the  income  thereof,  remain  exempt  from  tax- 
ation, provided  that  neither  of  said  corporations 
shall  ever  hold  in  this  State  real  estate  free  from 
taxation  affording  an  annual  income  of  more  than 

1  Supplements  to  the  Public  Statutes  of  Massachusetts,  1889-95, 
c.  465. 

16  241 


Financial  Relations 

six  thousand  dollars."  The  New  York  statute  is 
more  akin  to  that  of  Massachusetts :  "  Every  build- 
ing erected  for  the  use  of  a  college,"  and  used  by 
it,  and  all  stocks  owned  by  literary  and  charitable 
institutions,  are  free  from  taxation.  The  statutes 
of  Ohio  and  of  Illinois  are  similar. 

The  essential  meaning  of  these  laws,  as  inter- 
preted by  the  courts,  is  that  the  property  of  a  col- 
lege necessarily  used  for  collegiate  purposes  is  not 
to  be  taxed.  In  property  necessarily  used  for  col- 
legiate purposes  are  usually  included  (1)  the  ground 
requisite  for  the  location  of  buildings  and  property 
for  the  securing  of  the  fitting  use  of  these  build- 
ings, (2)  halls  for  the  purposes  of  giving  and  hear- 
ing lectures  and  recitations,  (3)  laboratories  and 
their  apparatus,  (4)  libraries,  including  both  build- 
ings and  books,  (5)  gymnasium  and  its  apparatus, 
(6)  astronomical  observatories  and  their  apparatus. 
Regarding  the  taxing  of  property  of  this  character 
I  am  not  aware  that  any  question  has  arisen.  Such 
property  is  so  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  college  that  without  it  the  college  could  not  be 
maintained. 

The  essential  meaning  of  the  statute,  moreover, 
is  in  most  States— with  possible  exceptions  aris- 
ing from  specific  legislation— that  real  property 
belonging  to  a  college  which  is  owned  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  revenue  is  not  exempted 
from  taxation.  Such  property  ordinarily  includes 
buildings  leased  for  commercial  and  similar  pur- 
poses. It  is  well  known  that  a  few  of  the  larger, 
older,  or  more  conspicuous  colleges  have  invested 

242 


Financial  Relations 

large  amounts  of  their  funds  in  real  estate.  Har- 
vard owns  large  values  in  real  property  in  Boston, 
Columbia  in  New  York,  and  Chicago  University 
in  Chicago.  In  such  cases  the  college  corporation 
becomes  a  landlord,  and  is,  so  far  as  I  know,  in 
every  instance  prepared  to  assent  to  a  proper 
imposition  of  taxation,  like  any  other  landlord. 
To  this  general  condition  there  are,  of  course,  a 
few  exceptions.  One  of  these  exceptions  belongs 
to  Harvard  College.  By  a  certain  privilege  granted 
in  the  Charter  of  1650  Harvard  College  was  ex- 
empted from  all  taxes  on  real  estate  not  exceeding 
the  value  at  that  time  of  five  hundred  pounds  per 
annum.  Under  this  exemption  an  estate  on  Wash- 
ington Street,  Boston,  now  occupied  by  a  book- 
selling and  book-publishing  house,  is  free  from 
taxes.  The  Northwestern  University  of  Illinois 
also  enjoys  a  similar  exemption  upon  certain  of 
its  holdings  of  valuable  real  estate  in  the  city  of 
Chicago. 

But  between  property  which  a  college  must  pos- 
sess in  order  to  be  a  college  and  to  do  college  work 
and  property  which  it  does  possess  in  order  to 
raise  a  revenue,  may  lie,  and  does  lie,  property 
which,  on  the  one  hand,  is  not  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  the  existence  and  maintenance  of  the  col- 
lege, but  which  yet  does  promote  its  maintenance 
and  augment  its  efficiency  as  a  means  of  education, 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  property  which  has  no 
relation  at  all  to  the  immediate  promotion  of  the 
great  purposes  of  the  college,  and  yet  which  does 
result  in  actually  increasing  the  revenue  of  the 

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Financial  Relations 

college.  Such  property  placed  midway  between 
property  absolutely  necessary  for  collegiate  pur- 
poses and  property  of  an  income-bearing  char- 
acter includes  such  real  estate  as  dormitories, 
club-houses  occupied  by  the  students,  and  dwell- 
ing-houses occupied  by  the  professors.  At  exactly 
this  point  falls  the  whole  ictus  of  the  whole  ques- 
tion of  the  taxation  of  college  property.  The 
simple  question  is  whether  property  of  this  sort 
should  be  taxed  or  should  be  exempted  from  tax- 
ation. 

It  is  clear  that  dormitories  are  not  necessary  for 
the  maintenance  of  certain  colleges,  for  certain 
colleges  do  exist  and  are  efficient  without  dormi- 
tories. Columbia  University  has  no  dormitories; 
likewise  the  University  of  Michigan  and  the  Uni- 
versity of  Minnesota,  institutions  enrolling  some 
three  thousand  students  each,  are  without  dormi- 
tories. On  the  other  hand,  many  colleges,  and 
certainly  most  of  the  older  colleges,  have  adopted 
the  dormitory  system  of  residence.  To  remove 
Holworthy  or  Thayer  or  Weld  from  Harvard,  or 
Farnham  or  Durfee  from  Yale,  or  old  Nassau  from 
Princeton,  would  represent  an  elimination  of  what 
has  proved  to  very  many  men  a  valuable  condition 
of  their  college  course.  To  exclude  the  dormitory 
method  from  Vassar  or  from  Wellesley  or  from 
Smith  or  from  Bryn  Mawr  would  probably  re- 
sult in  the  dissolution  of  the  colleges  themselves. 
Neither  Poughkeepsie  nor  the  town  of  Wellesley 
nor  the  city  of  Northampton  nor  the  village  of 
Bryn  Mawr  could  offer  the  proper  residences  for 

244 


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the  students  who  are  at  present  members  of 
these  institutions.  On  the  other  hand,  although 
the  Western  Reserve  College  for  Women  has  a 
dormitory,  yet  this  college  could  exist  if  this 
dormitory  were  not  built.  Radcliffe  College  in 
Cambridge  has  enjoyed  prosperity  without  offering 
special  homes  to  its  students. 

It  is  also  to  be  said  that  the  income  from  certain 
of  these  halls  of  residence  amounts  to  a  large  an- 
nual revenue.  The  money  thus  derived  is  put  into 
the  college  chest  and  is  spent  for  purposes  similar 
to  those  for  which  money  derived  from  business 
blocks  or  from  investments  in  bonds  and  stocks 
is  used. 

It  may,  therefore,  be  affirmed  that  in  certain 
colleges  the  dormitory  is  as  necessary  to  the  carry- 
ing on  of  the  college  as  is  a  hall  of  recitation.  In 
other  colleges  it  is  not  so  necessary.  In  certain  col- 
leges the  claim  might  worthily  be  made,  upon  the 
evidence  presented  on  one  side,  that  the  dormi- 
tory is  conducive  to  the  prosperity  of  the  col- 
lege. In  the  same  colleges  arguments  might  be 
presented  showing  that  the  dormitory  is  of  slight 
value.  The  verdict  in  respect  to  the  taxation  of 
such  property,  on  whatever  ground  or  of  whatever 
content,  would  not  be  generally  satisfactory. 

The  legal  relation  in  which  the  houses  belonging 
to  the  college  corporation  and  occupied  by  college 
teachers  stand  is  somewhat  similar  and  somewhat 
dissimilar  to  that  constituted  by  the  dormitories 
of  the  students.  The  dwelling-house  owned  by  a 
college  and  occupied  by  a  teacher  is  primarily  used 

245 


Financial  Relations 

as  a  means  of  increasing  the  income  of  the  college. 
The  professor  occupying  it  does  not  receive  so 
large  an  annual  stipend  from  the  college  as  he 
would  were  he  not  occupying  it.  This  dwelling- 
house,  therefore,  stands  on  the  basis  of  an  income- 
bearing  business  block.  It  is  also  evident  that  in 
many  cases,  though  not  in  all,  it  is  especially  pro- 
motive of  the  welfare  of  the  college  for  profes- 
sors to  occupy  houses  in  close  proximity  to  the 
college.  A  few  professors  in  certain  of  our  larger 
colleges  situated  in  a  metropolis  may  live  a  dozen 
or  more  miles  from  the  halls  of  lectures  and  recita- 
tions, but  in  other  instances  such  conditions  are 
not  possible.  Certainly  it  would  usually  be  advan- 
tageous for  all  the  residences  of  college  teachers 
to  be  near  to  the  college  halls.  The  worth  of  a 
teacher  to  a  college  is  promoted  by  the  intimacy 
of  his  association  with  all  college  elements  and 
relations. 

It  is  therefore  evident  that  the  statute  of  ex- 
emptions touching  college  property  as  embodied 
in  the  unnecessary  and  yet  income-producing  real 
estate  represents  one  of  those  laws  which  the  dif- 
ferent courts  in  different  States,  and  the  same 
court  in  the  same  State  with  different  judges  on 
the  bench,  might  interpret  differently. 

Among  the  more  famous  cases  decided  by  the 
Massachusetts  court  touching  the  taxation  of  col- 
lege property  is  the  case  of  the  distinguished 
mathematician,  Professor  Benjamin  Peirce,  versus 
the  inhabitants  of  Cambridge.  This  case  was 
decided  in  January,  1849.     It   appears  that  the 

246 


Financial  Relations 

President  and  Fellows  of  Harvard  College  built  a 
dwelling-house  on  land  of  the  corporation  within 
the  college  yard,  and  leased  the  same  to  Professor 
Peirce,  to  be  occupied  by  him  and  his  family  as  a 
residence  at  a  certain  annual  charge.  The  court 
held  that  this  property  thus  occupied  could  not  be 
exempt,  although  in  a  later  decision  of  the  court 
upon  a  similar  matter  it  was  affirmed  that  if  the 
house  had  been  occupied  by  Professor  Peirce  with- 
out his  paying  rent  it  could  have  been  exempted. 
A  somewhat  similar  ease  was  decided  in  favor  of 
an  institution  of  learning  nineteen  years  after  the 
case  of  Professor  Peirce.  This  was  a  case  of  the 
Trustees  of  "Wesleyan  Academy  of  Wilbraham, 
Massachusetts,  against  the  town  of  "Wilbraham. 
It  appears  that  the  Trustees  of  the  academy  de- 
sired that  a  farm  and  certain  farming  stock  belong- 
ing to  them  and  used  for  the  support  of  the  academy 
be  exempted  from  taxation.  The  decision  of  the 
court  was,  "  A  farm  and  the  farming  stock  owned 
by  an  institution  incorporated  within  this  com- 
monwealth for  the  education  of  youth,  and  by  it 
worked  solely  to  raise  produce  for  the  boarding- 
house  kept  by  the  institution  to  supply  board  to 
the  students  at  its  actual  cost,  is  exempted."  In 
another  Massachusetts  case,  the  Massachusetts 
General  Hospital  versus  the  inhabitants  of  Somer- 
ville,  it  was  held  by  the  court  that  the  purposes 
for  which  the  real  estate  is  used  represent  the 
ground  upon  which  exemption  may  be  claimed. 

Among  the  more  recent  and  more  important  of  all 
decisions  is  that  rendered  by  the  Supreme  Court 

247 


Financial  Relations 

of  Massachusetts  in  the  case  of  Williams  College 
and  Williamstown.  In  this  decision  it  is  declared 
that: 

Lands  with  dwelling-houses  thereon  owned  by  a  college 
and  occupied  as  residences  by  persons  engaged  solely  in 
the  instruction  or  government  of  the  college  or  in  the 
care  of  its  property,  under  parole  agreements  whereby 
each  is  to  receive  as  salary  a  stated  sum  monthly  and  the 
use  of  the  estate  while  in  the  service  of  the  college,  for 
which  use  a  certain  sum  is  deducted  from  the  amount  of 
the  salary,  are  not  exempt  from  taxation  under  Public 
Statutes,  c.  11,  sec.  5,  cl.  3,  as  amended  by  Statutes  of 
1889,  c.  465. 

But  a  still  more  important  case  is  the  recent 
case  known  as  "  the  President  and  Fellows  of  Har- 
vard College  versus  the  assessors  of  Cambridge." 
This  is  a  case  which  will  probably  rank  along  with 
the  case  of  Professor  Benjamin  Peirce  versus  the 
inhabitants  of  Cambridge,  decided  in  January, 
1S19.  The  essence  of  the  second  case,  as  also,  in 
part  at  least,  the  basis  of  the  earlier  case,  is  found 
in  the  Massachusetts  Constitution  of  1780,  in  which 
it  is  declared  that  the  "  President  and  Fellows  of 
Harvard  College,  in  their  corporate  capacity,  and 
their  successors  in  that  capacity,  their  officers,  and 
servants,  shall  have,  hold,  use,  exercise,  and  enjoy 
all  powers,  authorities,  rights,  liberties,  privileges, 
immunities,  and  franchises  which  they  now  have, 
or  are  entitled  to  have,  hold,  use,  exercise,  and 
enjoy;  and  the  same  are  hereby  ratified  and  con- 
firmed unto  them,  the  said  President  and  Fellows 

248 


Financial  Relations 

of  Harvard  College,  and  to  their  successors,  and  to 
their  officers  and  servants,  respectively,  forever." 
Elsewhere  in  the  Constitution  it  is  provided  that 
"  wisdom  and  knowledge,  as  well  as  virtue,  diffused 
generally  among  the  body  of  the  people,  being 
necessary  for  the  preservation  of  their  rights  and 
liberties,  and  as  these  depend  on  spreading  the 
opportunities  and  advantages  of  education  in  the 
various  parts  of  the  country  and  among  the  differ- 
ent orders  of  the  people,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
legislatures  and  magistrates,  in  all  future  periods 
of  the  commonwealth,  to  cherish  the  interests  of 
literature  and  science,  and  all  seminaries  of  them, 
especially  the  university  at  Cambridge,  public 
schools  and  grammar  schools  in  the  towns." 

The  method  of  carrying  out  these  provisions  of 
the  Constitution  is  a  statute  which,  in  its  final  form 
of  1889,  provides  that  "the  personal  property  of 
literary,  benevolent,  charitable,  and  scientific  in- 
stitutions and  temperance  societies  incorporated 
within  this  commonwealth,  and  the  real  estate 
belonging  to  such  institutions,  occupied  by  them 
or  their  officers  for  the  purpose  for  which  they  are 
incorporated,"  shall  be  exempt  from  taxation. 

The  essence  of  this  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Massachusetts  is  that  property  belonging 
to  a  college  and  used  for  the  administration  of  col- 
lege affairs  is  exempt  from  taxation.  In  property 
used  for  college  purposes  are  included  college  dor- 
mitories and  dining-halls,  the  house  of  the  Presi- 
dent, and  houses  occupied  by  Deans  and  similar 
officers. 

249 


Financial  Relations 

In  Ohio,  with  a  law  quite  similar  to  the  Massa- 
chusetts law  and  that  of  other  States,  the  courts 
have  usually  decreed  that  property  used  imme- 
diately and  directly  for  educational  purposes  is 
exempt,  but  that  property  used  for  the  support 
of  education  is  not  exempt.  For  instance,  the 
property  of  Western  Reserve  University,  includ- 
ing halls  of  recitation,  libraries,  laboratories,  is 
free  from  taxation,  but  a  piece  of  land  which  the 
university  bought  in  the  year  1890,  lying  near  to 
but  separated  from  the  university  campus,  al- 
though bought  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  col- 
lege building  thereupon,  could  not  be  exempted. 
It  was  said  by  the  assessors  that  if  a  building, 
however  small,  were  thereon  erected  and  used 
for  college  purposes,  the  tract  should  be  made 
free  from  taxation,  but  until  the  land  was  put  to 
that  specified  purpose  it  must  bear  its  share  of  the 
public  burden.  A  similar  view  is  held  in  certain 
States  respecting  the  taxation  of  ecclesiastical  prop- 
erty. The  building  used  for  purposes  of  worship 
and  of  instruction  is  free  from  taxes,  but  the  par- 
sonage or  the  place  of  residence  of  priest  or  min- 
ister is  taxed. 

A  decision  made  in  the  Illinois  courts  in  the  case 
of  the  Northwestern  University  is  similar.  Prop- 
erty is  not  to  be  exempted  which  is  owned  by 
educational  corporations  which  is  not  used  itself 
directly  in  aid  of  educational  purposes  and  which 
is  held  for  profit  merely,  although  the  profits  are 
devoted  to  the  purposes  of  education. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  present  movement 
250 


Financial  Relations 

toward  the  taxation  of  college  property  is  a  munici- 
pal movement.  It  has  arisen  in  and  from  the  towns 
or  cities  in  which  the  colleges  themselves  are  lo- 
cated. The  demand  would  not  have  arisen  at  all 
from  the  States  themselves.  Cambridge,  not  Mas- 
sachusetts, asks  that  the  property  of  Harvard 
University  be  taxed.  "Williamstown,  and  not  Mas- 
sachusetts, asks  that  the  property  of  Williams  Col- 
lege be  taxed.  New  Haven,  and  not  Connecticut, 
asks  that  the  property  of  Yale  University  be  taxed. 
Of  course  several  motives  may  arise  in  causing 
the  assessors  of  a  town  to  use  their  presumed  right 
to  tax  college  property.  The  motive  to  lessen  the 
rate  of  taxation  is  usually  one,  and  a  worthy 
motive.  The  desire  to  make  the  amount  of  tax- 
able property  as  large  as  possible  in  order  to  lessen 
the  burden  of  each  citizen  is  a  laudable  desire. 
Both  in  Cambridge,  Williamstown,  and  Wellesley 
the  real-estate  holdings  of  the  colleges  represent  a 
proportion  of  the  taxable  realty  of  those  towns, 
and  in  the  case  of  Wellesley  and  Williamstown  the 
proportion  is  large.  But  behind  this  motive,  in 
certain  college  towns,  lies  as  a  motive  a  certain 
peculiar  and  interesting  condition.  It  is  the  con- 
dition of  antagonism  or  indifference.  This  condi- 
tion is  frequently  found  to  exist  between  the 
college  people  and  the  town  people.  This  condi- 
tion is  not  a  condition  of  the  "town"  versus  the 
"gown,"  which  thrusts  itself  forward  in  juvenile 
or  other  riots,  and  which  has,  indeed,  emerged  in 
conflicts  of  many  sorts  for  a  thousand  years  of 
academic  history,  but  it  is  a  condition  simply  of 

251 


Financial  Relations 

more  or  less  marked  antagonism  and  indifference. 
The  antagonism,  be  it  said,  exists  more  on  the  part 
of  the  town,  and  the  indifference  more  on  the  part 
of  the  college.  This  relation,  or  lack  of  relation, 
grows  out  of  certain  advantages  possessed  by  the 
scholarly,  cultured,  and  apparently  well-to-do  part 
of  the  community  which  are  not  possessed  by  those 
who  may  have  no  college  association.  This  condi- 
tion is  a  condition  of  human  nature.  It  cannot  be 
altered  except  by  altering  human  nature.  Be  it 
said,  however,  that  this  sentiment  of  antagonism 
exists  only  in  a  part  of  the  non-collegiate  com- 
munity ;  and  be  it  also  said  that  this  mood  of  in- 
difference is  not  so  strong  as  most  people  believe. 
For  the  interest  of  the  college  people  in  the  town 
or  city  in  which  the  college  is  located  is  an  interest 
usually  broad  if  not  keen.  I  also  believe  that  the 
antagonism  that  is  sometimes  rather  rampant  on 
the  part  of  the  community  against  the  college 
which  is  found  in  its  midst  is  not  so  violent  as  is 
frequently  believed.  For  the  advantages  which  a 
college  can  render  to  a  community  are  of  the  greatest 
worth.  The  mere  naming  of  them  carries  along  an 
intimation  of  their  value.  The  college  usually  fur- 
nishes to  the  community  noble  specimens  of  the  art 
of  the  architect  and  of  the  landscape-gardener.  The 
best  buildings  and  the  most  precious  scenes  of  Cam- 
bridge and  New  Haven,  of  Amherst  and  of  Wil- 
liamstown,  are  the  college  buildings  and  the  college 
grounds.  The  college  also  gives  to  the  community 
museums,  libraries,  art-galleries  for  the  preserva- 
tion or  the  exhibition  of  the  great  works  of  nature 

252 


Financial  Relations 

or  of  man.  It  is  not  also  to  be  denied  that  the 
college  adds  to  the  resident  body  of  the  community 
a  certain  number  of  families  of  education  and  of 
culture,  whose  presence  in  the  community  tends  to 
elevate  its  standards  of  living  and  to  ennoble  its 
sentiments.  Into  the  smaller  town,  too,  the  col- 
lege brings  from  time  to  time  great  men,  the  seeing 
of  whom  and  the  hearing  of  whom  represent  a 
positive  addition  to  the  best  forces  of  the  com- 
munity. It  is  further  to  be  noted  that  the  college 
offers  to  the  community  an  example  of  the  con- 
tinuity of  the  highest  life.  In  a  new  community 
such  an  example  is  of  the  greatest  worth.  The 
college,  furthermore,  extends  the  reputation  of  the 
town  in  which  it  is  located.  Who  would  have 
known  of  Hanover  but  for  Dartmouth  1  or  who  of 
Brunswick  but  for  Bowdoin!  or  who  of  Oberlin 
but  for  the  college  bearing  its  name?  These  in- 
stances, and  many  others  that  might  be  named, 
are  proof  of  the  worth  of  a  college  to  the  com- 
munity. 

Townships  and  municipalities  usually  in  advance 
of  the  location  of  a  college  recognize  what  a  college 
may  do  for  the  community  in  which  it  is  placed. 
If  it  is  known  that  a  college  is  to  be  founded  in  a 
certain  general  neighborhood,  each  town  of  that 
neighborhood  becomes  a  claimant.  Portland,  Yar- 
mouth, and  other  places,  as  well  as  Brunswick, 
asked  for  the  location  of  Bowdoin.  Akron  gave 
$60,000  in  order  to  secure  Buchtel  College.  Fair- 
field, Iowa,  a  small  town,  gave  $29,000  that  Par- 
sons College  might  there  be  placed.     Fifty  years 

253 


Financial  Relations 

ago  Davenport  gave  $1400  in  order  that  Iowa 
College  might  there  be  founded,  although  after- 
ward it  was  moved  nearer  the  center  of  the  State. 
Albion,  Michigan,  gave  a  liberal  subscription 
through  its  citizens  for  securing  the  college  bear- 
ing that  name  for  its  village.  Towns  are  known 
which  have  voted  to  give  a  site,  building,  and 
freedom  from  taxation  for  a  term  of  years,  in  or- 
der to  secure  a  shoe  factory.  Is  a  college  better 
than  a  shoe  factory? 

The  question  of  the  taxation  of  college  property 
is,  in  respect  to  the  immediate  financial  gain  to  be 
secured  from  that  taxation,  primarily  a  question 
for  the  municipality  in  which  the  college  is  located. 
But  the  question  in  its  other  relations  is  a  question 
which  belongs  to  the  people  of  the  whole  State. 
This  question  is  a  question  which  may  be  settled 
by  the  people  of  a  State  as  represented  in  its  legis- 
lature, and  it  may  be  at  once  and  clearly  settled. 
In  case  the  people  of  a  State  do  not  wish  to  tax 
the  property  of  their  colleges,  such  as  professors' 
houses  and  students'  dormitories,  they  can  at  once 
make  laws  freeing  this  property  from  these  im- 
posts. In  case  the  people  of  Massachusetts  do  not 
wish  to  tax  the  house  occupied  by  the  President 
of  Harvard  College  and  similar  property,  it  is  very 
easy  for  the  General  Court  to  free  such  property 
from  taxation. 

The  burden  of  the  freedom  of  collegiate  property 
from  taxation  is  felt,  if  felt  at  all,  by  the  town  in 
which  the  college  is  located.  In  a  recent  interview, 
an  officer  of  the  city  of  Cambridge  is  reported  to 

254 


Financial  Relations 

have  said  that  when  the  college  dormitories  are 
assessed  the  high  rate  of  taxation  would  be  re- 
duced. One  can  sympathize  with  the  people  of 
the  smaller  towns  more  than  with  the  people  of 
Cambridge,  who  do  feel  the  burden  of  taxation 
resting  more  heavily  upon  themselves  by  rea- 
son of  the  college  exemptions.  But  there  is  a 
method  of  relief  from  this  burden  which  is  per- 
fectly consistent  with  the  continuance  of  the  col- 
lege exemption.  This  method  consists  in  allowing 
the  people  of  the  whole  State  to  share  the  burden. 
In  a  word,  let  the  college  pay  taxes  on  its  property, 
such  as  professors'  houses  or  students'  dormitories, 
as  well  as  upon  business  blocks.  If  one  wish,  let 
it  pay  a  tax  upon  its  entire  property,  including 
halls  of  recitation,  laboratories,  libraries,  and  mu- 
seums. Let  the  treasury  of  the  township  or  munici- 
pality receive  its  proper  share  of  the  increased 
revenue,  which  represents  the  larger  share  of  the 
amount  thus  collected.  Then  let  the  treasurer  of 
the  State  reimburse  the  college  to  the  amount  of 
the  tax  which  the  college  has  paid.  This  simply 
is  spreading  the  burden  resulting  from  freedom 
over  the  shoulders  of  the  taxpayers  of  all  Massa- 
chusetts rather  than  of  Cambridge  only;  of  all 
Connecticut  rather  than  of  New  Haven  only.  For 
the  last  ten  years  this  is  the  method  which  has 
been  followed  in  the  State  of  Maine.  The  law  of 
that  commonwealth  is  worth  quoting : 

Any  college  in  this  State  authorized  under  its  charter 
to  confer  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  arts  or  of  bachelor  of 
science,  and  having  real  estate  liable  to  taxation,  shall, 

255 


Financial  Relations 

on  the  payment  of  such  tax  and  proof  of  the  same  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  Governor  and  Council,  be  reimbursed 
from  the  State  treasury  to  the  amount  of  the  tax  so  paid ; 
provided,  however,  the  aggregate  amount  so  reimbursed 
to  any  college  in  any  one  year  shall  not  exceed  fifteen 
hundred  dollars ;  and  provided,  further,  that  this  claim 
for  such  reimbursement  shall  not  apply  to  real  estate 
hereafter  bought  by  any  such  college. 

This  method,  however,  has  certain  disadvantages. 
If  this  method  were  applied  to  Massachusetts,  out 
of  the  three  hundred  and  fifty-two  towns  in  that 
State  three  hundred  and  forty-three  would  be 
taxed  for  the  benefit  of  the  nine  which  contain 
colleges  and  academies  that  are  free  from  taxation. 
It  may  be  doubted  whether  the  representatives  of 
the  three  hundred  and  forty-three  towns  would 
vote  to  increase  their  taxes  for  the  sake  of  benefit- 
ing the  nine  towns.  But,  on  the  whole,  the 
advantages  of  such  a  course  outweigh  the  disad- 
vantages. The  method  tends  to  increase  the  pop- 
ularity of  the  college  in  its  own  city  and  town. 
Such  a  popularity  is  of  the  greatest  benefit,  and, 
as  a  whole,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  col- 
leges are  not  as  well  loved  in  the  towns  of  their 
location  as  they  are  in  many  other  towns.  Such 
a  method  also  might  give  to  each  college  a  certain 
freedom  in  asking  for  a  share  in  the  common 
municipal  privileges  which  it  does  not  now  feel 
free  to  ask  for.  But  the  adoption  of  this  method, 
or  of  any  other  of  a  constitutional  or  legal  nature, 
rests  with  the  people  of  each  State  as  represented 
in  its  legislature. 

256 


Financial  Relations 

This  discussion  may  be  summed  up  in  six 
remarks : 

1.  The  close  interpretation  of  the  statute  of  taxa- 
tion as  applied  to  literary  and  scientific  institutions 
has  not  been  the  sentiment  or  practice  of  the  vari- 
ous American  courts. 

2.  The  American  people  as  a  body  has  sustained 
such  a  sentiment  and  has  approved  of  such  a  prac- 
tice. For  the  American  people,  as  a  whole,  love 
their  colleges,  and  desire  that  these  colleges  shall 
be  freed  from  many  burdens  which  they  them- 
selves, as  individuals,  are  willing  to  bear. 

3.  The  ordinary  American  citizen  cannot  give 
much  money  to  the  direct  support  of  the  American 
college,  but  he  can  give  somewhat  to  the  support 
of  the  American  college  by  the  adoption  of  a  gen- 
erous policy  respecting  the  freedom  of  these  col- 
leges from  taxation. 

4.  The  American  college  exists  for  the  benefit 
of  the  American  people.  Therefore  the  American 
people  should  not  feel  that  any  advantages  offered 
to  these  colleges  are  to  be  used  for  selfish  purposes 
or  for  narrow  and  limited  aggrandizement. 

5.  The  American  college  professor,  who  repre- 
sents, after  all,  the  best  part  of  the  American  col- 
lege, is  paid  a  small  income  from  a  small  treasury, 
and  he  is  himself  giving  back  to  the  community 
what  is  manifoldly  more  precious  than  the  money 
he  receives. 

6.  The  desire  of  certain  older  communities  to 
tax  their  colleges  is  not  for  them  a  pleasant  con- 
trast to  the  willingness  of  new  communities  to  tax 


17 


257 


Financial  Relations 

themselves  for  the  support  of  their  State  universi- 
ties. Is  it  possible  that  Massachusetts  desires  to 
exact  a  few  thousand  dollars  each  year  from  its 
colleges  when  Michigan  willingly  gives  hundreds 
of  thousands  to  its  university ! 


258 


VII 

ADMINISTRATIVE  AND  SCHOLASTIC 
PROBLEMS  OF  THE  TWEN- 
TIETH CENTURY 


VII 

ADMINISTRATIVE   AND   SCHOLASTIC 
PROBLEMS  OF  THE  TWEN- 
TIETH CENTURY 

THE  century  now  closing  has  made  rich  contri- 
butions to  the  science  and  the  art  of  the 
higher  and  the  lower  education,  as  it  has  to  the  art 
and  the  science  of  every  form  of  human  endeavor. 
It  has  enlarged  the  property  of  the  colleges  of 
America  from  a  very  small  sum  to  more  than 
quarter  a  billion  of  dollars.  It  has  increased  the 
annual  budget  for  public  education  until  it  amounts 
to  two  hundred  millions.  It  has  extended  and 
enriched  the  course  of  study,  and  has  also  diversi- 
fied it  to  fit  the  needs  of  the  individual  student 
from  the  age  of  six  to  the  age  of  twenty-six.  It 
has  uplifted,  dignified,  and  humanized  the  whole 
system  of  education,  primary,  secondary,  collegiate, 
graduate,  and  professional.  These  results  are  fixed, 
and  for  them  gratitude  is  common  and  hearty. 

The  century  now  closing  is  turning  over  to  the 
century  that  is  beginning  questions  which  are  as 
significant  and  as  essential  as  the  questions  which 
already  have   been   settled.     The   new   questions 

261 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

grow  out  of  the  past,  and  they  relate  to  the  future. 
They  are  questions  at  once  administrative  and 
scholastic,  new  and  old.  Such,  be  it  said,  is  the 
progress  of  humanity.  Every  problem  solved  is 
the  origin  of  other  problems  to  be  solved.  In  this 
method  lies  the  hope  of  the  race.  When  men  have 
no  questions  to  ask,  not  only  has  the  lip  become 
paralyzed,  but  the  brain  has  become  atrophied. 

Of  the  many  questions  which  the  nineteenth 
century  transmits  to  the  twentieth,  several  seem 
to  me  of  significant  value. 

The  first  of  these  questions  relates  to  uniting 
in  the  studies  and  the  methods  of  the  higher  edu- 
cation the  principle  of  unity  and  the  principle  of 
individuality.  The  college  has  developed  in  the 
last  third  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  principle 
of  individuality.  It  has  developed  this  principle 
largely  through  the  elective  system  of  studies.  It 
has  allowed,  if  not  commanded,  the  individual  stu- 
dent to  select  those  studies  which  he  thinks  are 
best  fitted  for  his  own  peculiar  needs.  It  has  recog- 
nized that  no  two  men  are  alike  any  more  than  two 
leaves  of  the  same  tree  are  alike,  as  Leibnitz  pointed 
out  long  ago.  It  is  affirmed  that  this  unlikeness 
is  best  and  most  adequately  ministered  unto 
through  different  subjects  of  thought  and  of 
learning.  It  has  seen  that  what  is  one  student's 
meat  may  be  another  student's  poison,  or  if  not 
poison,  it  may  be  to  the  other  student  sawdust ;  and 
what  is  to  one  student  poison  or  sawdust  may  be 
to  another  student  meat  and  drink.  The  college 
has  not  failed  to  recognize  that  what  is  food  to  a 

262 


of  the  Twentieth  Century 

student  in  one  period  of  his  career  may  not  be 
food  to  him  at  all  in  the  other  periods  of  his  career. 
All  this  and  much  more  has  been  worked  out  and 
put  on  the  shelves  of  our  intellectual  storehouse. 

But  the  colleges  have  made  but  small  use  of  the 
opposite  principle,  which  is  also  one  of  the  great 
results  of  the  century,— namely,  the  principle  of 
unity,— a  principle  which  is  not  more  true  in  the 
realm  of  nature  than  in  the  realm  of  mind.  Man 
is  ever  the  same  man.  The  soul  is  ever  the  same 
soul.  The  mind  that  asks  manifold  questions  in 
youth  is  the  same  mind  that  asks  its  less  manifold, 
but  hardly  less  important,  questions  of  nature  and 
humanity  in  its  maturity.  If  every  man  is  unlike 
every  other  man,  it  is  also  true  that  he  is  always 
unlike  every  other  man ;  he  maintains  his  personal 
identity.  As  matter  is  the  same  matter  under 
many  forms,  so  man  is  the  same  man  under  all 
the  changes  through  which  he  passes  and  which 
work  their  works  in  and  on  him. 

Both  the  principle  of  unity  and  the  principle  of 
individuality  have  their  special  advantages  and 
limitations.  The  principle  of  unity  tends  to 
become  sameness,  monotonousness.  It  lacks  pic- 
turesqueness,  as  applied  to  human  character.  It 
exemplifies  the  prairie  in  human  life.  It  stands 
for  one  wide  and  far-reaching  level  of  uniformity. 
Man  is  the  same  man,  noble,  noble;  mean,  mean; 
great,  always  great ;  and  small,  always  small.  One 
knows  where  to  find  him  who  embodies  this  prin- 
ciple ;  one  forecasts  what  answer  he  will  give  to 
every  question ;  one  anticipates  what  opinions  he 

26} 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

will  hold  under  certain  conditions;  and  one  can 
measure  bis  convictions  of  the  next  week  by  his 
convictions  of  the  last. 

But  this  principle  of  unity  also  possesses  for 
one's  self  and  for  humanity  at  large  many  and 
fine  advantages.  Man  is  like  the  mountains,  not 
like  the  weathercock  which  shows  which  way  the 
wind  blows.  He  is  like  the  eternal  hills,  which 
determine  which  way  the  wind  shall  blow.  He  is 
firm  and  fixed.  He  represents  the  conservative 
element  of  human  society.  There  is  nothing  un- 
certain or  wavering  about  him.  He  knows  what 
he  knows;  he  believes  what  he  believes;  and  he 
needs  no  one  to  convince  him  of  his  convictions. 
He  is  typed  in  the  force  of  gravitation — an  element 
at  once  fixed  and  not  fixed,  which  moves  through  all 
things  and  guides  them  by  unalterable  laws.  The 
principle  of  individuality,  also,  is  beset  by  corre- 
sponding advantages  and  disadvantages.  It  gives 
variety  to  life.  It  is  the  mother  of  interest.  It  is 
both  the  cause  and  the  result  of  development.  It 
stands  for  life ;  and  life  is  never  in  general,  but  life 
is  always  in  particular,  and  life  is  always  full  of 
fascination.  It  represents  the  progress  of  being, 
which  is  always  in  and  through  individuals.  But 
individuality,  be  it  said,  tends  to  become  eccen- 
tricity. If  it  grow  into  the  graciousness  of  right- 
eousness and  goodness  and  into  the  superlative 
excellence  of  beauty,  it  also  grows  into  wickedness 
and  into  the  pessimistic  degradation  of  sin  and  of 
ugliness. 

In  education,  as  in  all  life  and  nature,  these  two 
264 


of  the  Twentieth  Century 

principles  of  unity  and  individuality  are  to  be 
joined.  The  ocean  is  the  same  ocean,  although 
the  same  tides  never  sweep  over  its  beaches.  The 
sun  is  the  same  sun,  although  not  two  risings  or 
settings  are  identical.  The  world  is  the  same 
world,  although  no  two  springtimes  are  alike  in 
their  sweet  fragrance  or  in  their  mighty  and  silent 
growths.  In  the  higher  education  the  two  prin- 
ciples are  to  be  joined.  The  nineteenth  century 
has  given  us  the  principle  of  individuality;  the 
twentieth  century  is  to  associate  this  principle 
with  the  principle  of  unity  as  the  nineteenth  has 
not  associated  it.  "We  are  to  learn  that  the  boy  is 
father  to  the  man,  and  that  the  man  is  the  son  of 
the  boy.  We  are  to  draw  a  straight  line  from  the 
primary  school  to  the  professional.  We  are  to 
strive  to  make  character  more  consistent  without 
making  it  less  interesting,  more  solid  without 
making  it  less  picturesque,  more  conservative 
without  causing  it  to  become  less  progressive, 
more  fixed  without  causing  it  to  lose  adaptive- 
ness.  The  man  we  take  off  the  commencement 
platform  we  desire  to  be  the  same  man  whom,  as 
a  boy  four  years  before,  we  sent  to  college ;  only 
we  wish  him  to  be  finer,  nobler,  greater. 

The  union  of  unity  and  individuality  as  applied 
to  the  curriculum  and  to  the  students'  use  of  the 
curriculum  will  tend  to  do  away  with  that  bane 
of  our  educational  system,  a  haphazardness  in  the 
choice  of  studies.  This  union  will  give  directness 
in  aim ;  and  directness  in  aim  will  contribute  to 
force  in  execution  and  administration;  and  force 

265 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

thus  used  will  add  to  consistency  and  general 
worthiness.  The  studies  of  the  freshman  year 
will  be  chosen  in  the  light  of  the  needs  of  the 
senior  year ;  and  both  years  will  derive  their  pur- 
pose from  what  the  man  desires  to  know,  to  do,  and 
to  be  after  his  college  career.  This  union  will  not 
simply  give  us  studies  which  a  man  may  make 
into  a  backbone,  as  it  is  usually  called, — for  a  back- 
bone implies  also  other  bones  running  at  right 
angles  to  the  chief  one, — but  this  union  will  give 
us  a  whole  system  of  studies,  articulated  each  to 
all  and  all  to  each,  and  all  going  to  make  up  a 
consistent  and  vigorous  personality,  filled  with  one 
spirit,  guided  by  one  purpose,  moved  with  one  will, 
and  living  one  life. 

The  twentieth  century  will  also  give  us  aid  in 
determining  the  law  of  diminishing  and  increasing 
returns  in  studies.  What  this  law  is  we  have 
begun  to  learn  from  experimentation.  We  have 
learned  that  a  language,  be  it  ancient  or  modern, 
dead  or  alive,  may  continue  to  grow  in  its  power 
over  the  student  until  he  is  possessed  of  the  spirit 
of  its  literature,  and  of  the  people  out  of  whom  it 
grew  and  whom  it  in  turn  helped  to  create.  The 
first  three  or  four  years  in  the  study  of  Latin  or 
Greek  are  the  least  profitable.  The  fifth  and  sixth 
years  are,  and  should  be,  the  most  valuable.  In 
the  first  period  the  study  of  a  language  is  good ; 
and  it  is  good  chiefly  as  a  training  in  the  impor- 
tant element  of  discrimination ;  and  it  is  worthy 
of  studying  even  if  one  pursues  it  no  longer  or 
further.     But  when  one  has  become  in  a  degree 

266 


of  the  Twentieth  Century 

the  master  of  a  language,  as,  for  instance,  of  the 
Latin,  he  is  prepared  to  become  a  sympathetic  stu- 
dent of  these  peoples  themselves,  to  know  what 
they  were,  to  understand  the  institutions  in  which 
their  life  was  embodied,  to  think  as  they  thought, 
to  feel  as  they  felt,  to  see  out  of  their  eyes,  and  to 
hear  with  their  ears.  He  thus  causes  the  life  of 
this  one  nation — one  of  the  four  which  have  con- 
tributed most  largely  to  our  modern  humanity — 
to  become  an  integral  part  of  his  own  life. 

But  this  study  has  its  limitations.  For  the  stu- 
dent may,  after  six  years  of  reading  and  of  re- 
flection upon  the  institutions  of  Rome,  become 
conscious  that  he  is  not  getting  the  benefit  from 
these  studies  that  once  he  received.  The  minute 
investigation  may  prove  to  be  of  comparative 
worthlessness.  He  has  entered  into  the  narrowing 
margin  of  profit.  He  gets  less  and  less  for  a  larger 
and  larger  expenditure.  The  same  principle  in  its 
application  of  diminishing  or  increasing  returns 
applies  to  mathematics  or  to  the  sciences  or,  in- 
deed, to  any  subject.  The  deductive  reasoning  of 
mathematics  is  less  early  reached  in  its  fullness  of 
view,  in  the  case  of  most  students,  than  is  the  in- 
ductive reasoning  of  chemistry  and  of  the  other 
physical  sciences. 

In  the  case  of  all  scientific  subjects  there  comes 
a  time  when  the  power  of  observation  as  em- 
bodied in  experiments,  or  the  power  of  inference 
as  trained  by  these  experiments  or  as  trained 
in  mathematical  reasoning,  has  reached  its  normal 
fullness.    It  is  possible,  of  course,  still  to  discipline 

267 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

the  mental  faculties  chiefly  concerned  in  mathe- 
matical or  scientific  reasoning,  and  the  process 
might,  apparently,  go  on  forever;  but  the  returns 
resulting  from  this  expenditure  greatly  diminish. 
History  is  the  one  subject  in  which  for  most  stu- 
dents the  law  of  returns  shows  that  the  results  are 
the  richer  the  longer  it  is  pursued.  The  primary 
studies  in  history  are  comparatively  of  small  value. 
The  later  studies,  touching  the  people  or  the  race, 
become  more  valuable  as  the  attention  to  its  es- 
sential conditions  and  relations  is  the  more  minute. 

The  question  of  the  increasing  and  diminishing 
returns  in  studies  becomes  of  special  significance 
in  the  light  of  the  results  of  a  free  elective  system. 
The  question  goes  out  into  the  general  and  most 
serious  problem  of  the  educational  value  of  differ- 
ent studies  and  of  the  relations  of  these  studies  to 
American  character  and  life.  Upon  certain  sides 
of  the  general  problem  we  are  possessed  of  some 
suggestive  facts. 

Among  the  most  significant  of  all  the  reports 
which  Harvard  College  makes  is  found  in  the  few 
pages  of  apparently  dull  and  useless  tables  which 
represent  the  various  courses  of  study  and  the 
number  of  undergraduates  who  are  pursuing  them. 
Some  of  the  most  important  of  these  facts  are  as 
follows.  In  the  academic  year  of  1898-99  there 
were  1851  students  in  Harvard  College.  Each  of 
these  students  was  required  to  take  from  twelve 
to  fifteen  hours  of  recitations  or  lectures  each 
week.  The  freedom  of  choice  was  practically  ab- 
solute, with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  courses 

268 


of  the  Twentieth  Century 

for  freshmen,  and  the  field  for  its  exercise  was  ex- 
ceedingly wide.  Under  these  conditions,  be  it 
said,  Harvard  students  chose  courses  as  indicated 
in  the  following  table : 

Subject.  Seniors.  Juniors.  Sopho-    Fresh-  Specials.  Total. 

mores,     men. 

Semitic  languages      ..     39  19  25  4  7  85 

Egyptology 11  5  12  2  4  34 

Indo-Iranic  languages     .231  17 

Classical  Philology     .     .  107  83  170  265  28  653 

English 498  604  726  601  209  2638 1 

Germanic  languages        .     69  94  177  300  41  681 

Eomance  languages   .     .  108  130  271  358  71  944 

Comparative  literature           1  1 

Slavic  languages   ...       2  2 

History 304  288  540  541  159  1832 

Economics 393  283  351  15  89  1131 

Philosophy 237  230  144  18  49  678 

Fine  Arts 40  47  91  14  18  210 

Architecture      ....       6  5  3  4  18 

Music 17  18  9  8  2  54 

Mathematics     ....     38  28  55.  154  22  297 

Astronomy 50  32  17  3  6  108 

Engineering      ....     27  28  27  18  2  102 

Military  Science    ...     32  40  44  10  1  127 

Physics 20  20  66  59  22  189 

Chemistry 75  118  124  107  16  440 

Botany 17  31  31  32  9  120 

Zoology 23  37  39  24  8  131 

Mineralogy 6  4  3  13 

Mining 11  2 

Anatomy 8  10  27  7  4  56 

Archaeology       ....     20  6  8  2  36 

The  essence  of  this  table  is  that  the  subjects,  ar- 
ranged in  the  order  of  their  popularity,  would  begin 
with  English,  which  would  be  followed,  though 
remotely,  by  history,  and  then,  with  still  greater 

1  Four  hundred  and  twenty-one  of  this  number  were  required  to 
take  Freshmen  English.  Therefore  2217  represents  the  proper 
number  for  comparison  under  a  free  elective  system.  Certain  stu- 
dents, too,  though  a  smaller  number  than  in  the  case  of  English, 
were  required  to  take  either  elementary  German  or  French. 

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Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

gaps,  would  come  economics,  Romance  languages, 
philosophy,  Germanic  languages,  classical  phi- 
lology, chemistry,  mathematics,  fine  arts,  physics, 
and  astronomy. 

Among  the  more  significant  elements  are  these : 
that  out  of  1851  men  only  297  took  mathematics, 
and  out  of  a  freshman  class  of  471  men,  only 
154  chose  this  subject.  The  small  number  of  men, 
also,  who  took  the  sciences  is  to  be  noted.  Chem- 
istry and  especially  geology  make  a  pretty  good 
showing,  but  physics  and  botany  and  zoology  are 
badly  off.  The  greatest  surprise  of  all,  possibly, 
is  the  small  number  of  men  who  take  zoology. 
When  one  thinks  of  the  Agassiz  Museum,  and 
of  the  vast  resources  both  in  teaching  force  and 
in  collections  for  the  study  of  life,  one  looks  at 
the  figures  with  a  sense  of  surprise  and  of  sorrow. 
But  it  is  to  be  said  that  in  each  college  in  the 
United  States  the  sciences  are  the  least  popular 
studies.  Latin  and  Greek  hold  their  own  in  the 
American  college  and  represent  possibly  a  larger 
number  of  students  than  one  would  in  advance  ex- 
pect. The  sciences  have  not  made  those  inroads 
into  the  classics  which  twenty-five  years  ago  it  was 
held  by  both  the  classicists  and  the  scientists  was 
inevitable. 

The  value  of  this  table  is  reinforced  and  con- 
firmed by  a  statement  respecting  the  studies  of 
a  class  recently  graduating  at  Harvard,  the  class 
of  1897.  The  following  table  represents  both  the 
number  of  men  and  the  percentage  of  the  whole 
class  who  pursued  each  subject,  the  subjects  being 

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arranged  in  the  order  of  their  preference.  The 
table  is  taken  from  a  fnll  report  of  the  studies  of 
the  class,  published  in  the  "Harvard  Graduates' 
Magazine." 

Number.    Per  cent. 

Total  number  in  class 244  100 

History  and  Government        123  50 

Philosophy 122  50 

English        121  50 

Economics       114  47 

Fine  Arts 72  30 

French 52  21 

Military  Science 46  19 

Chemistry 44  18 

Semitic        43  18 

German 32  13 

Italian  and  Spanish 30  12 

Engineering 21  9 

Zoology 21  9 

Mathematics 15  6 

Classics 14  6 

Geology 14  6 

Botany 12  5 

Physics 11  5 

Mineralogy  and  Petrography      ....       5  2 

Music 3  1 

Hygiene 2  1 

Archaeology  and  Ethnology 2  1 

Slavic 2  1 

Germanic  and  Eomance  Philology       .     .       1  0.4 

Indo-Iranic  languages 0  0 

Arising  out  of  these  tables  are  two  most  impor- 
tant questions :  First,  Why  did  the  students  elect 
studies  as  they  did  elect  ?  and  second,  Is  it  best  for 
the  men  of  all  colleges  to  elect  studies  as  the  Har- 
vard men  did  elect  ?  The  first  question  is  a  ques- 
tion of  interpretation  as  applied  to  the  students  of 
Harvard  College,  and  the  second  question  is  a  ques- 
tion of  general  educational  policy. 

In  answer  to  the  first  question  respecting  the 
reasons  for  Harvard  men  so  largely  electing  studies 

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Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

in  English,  economics,  and  history,  several  things 
are  to  be  said. 

These  studies  represent  a  popular  practical  de- 
mand. The  relation  between  life  and  history,  the 
relation  between  good  English  and  professional  suc- 
cess, is  apparently  far  more  intimate  than  the  re- 
lation between  Plato's  Republic  and  life,  or  the 
relation  between  the  dynamics  of  a  rigid  body  or 
Galois's  theory  of  equations  and  an  election  to  the 
national  House  of  Representatives.  The  college 
has  become  peculiarly  sensitive  to  popular  demands 
and  popular  movements — on  the  whole  too  sensi- 
tive. No  sooner  do  we  adopt,  or  think  of  adopting, 
certain  colonial  possessions,  than  the  colleges  offer 
courses  in  the  government  of  their  colonies  by 
England,  France,  and  Holland.  The  community 
demands  that  the  college  man  shall  know  some- 
what of  the  problems  which  the  community  has 
to  settle  and  of  the  life  which  the  community 
has  to  live.  To  this  demand  the  college  student 
is  inclined  to  yield.  Therefore  courses  in  eco- 
nomics, history,  and  English  are  the  more  pop- 
ular. 

These  studies  also  represent  a  personal  practical 
demand.  The  college  man  thinks  of  his  life's  work, 
and  no  sooner  does  he  begin  to  think  than  he 
begins  to  prepare  for  that  life's  work.  Some  men 
believe  that  the  more  remote  their  college  course 
from  the  nature  of  their  life's  work  the  more  ade- 
quate, on  the  whole,  is  their  preparation.  The  foun- 
dations for  heavy  structures  are  to  be  laid  broad 
and  deep,  and  the  heavier  the  structures  the  broader 

272 


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and  the  deeper  are  to  be  laid  the  foundations.  It 
is,  therefore,  said  that  the  man  who  is  to  become 
a  doctor  should  study  philosophy,  psychology,  and 
history,  and  that  the  man  who  is  to  become  a  lawyer 
should  study  mathematics,  chemistry,  and  biology. 
A  lawyer  of  the  highest  distinction,  and  serving 
in  a  most  exacting  capacity,  wrote  to  me  lately  say- 
ing that  if  he  were  to  advise  a  college  student  who 
proposed  to  become  a  lawyerwithrespect  to  hisstud- 
ies,  his  counsel  would  be  for  him  not  to  take  consti- 
tutional history  or  economics  or  philosophy,  but  to 
take  biology  and  physics— studies  that  were  the 
most  remote  in  content  from  his  future  work  as  a 
lawyer.  But  it  is  at  once  to  be  confessed  that 
most  college  students  are  not  inclined  to  lay  foun- 
dations for  their  professional  service  upon  very 
broad  bases.  They  are  inclined  to  begin  their  pro- 
fessional specialization  early.  One  need  spend  only 
a  few  days  in  Cornell  University  to  see  that  the 
professional  spirit  is  one  of  the  leading  influences 
of  that  great  university.  The  fact  is  that  in  most 
universities  those  who  propose  to  become  doctors 
take  chemistry  and  biology  and  physics  in  the  lat- 
ter part  of  their  course ;  those  who  propose  to  be- 
come ministers  take  philosophy  and  history  and  so- 
ciology ;  and  those  who  propose  to  become  lawyers 
take  constitutional  history,  economics,  and  inter- 
national law.  Two-thirds  of  the  graduates  of  most 
colleges  become  lawyers  and  business  men.  These 
studies,  therefore,  in  English,  economics,  and  his- 
tory, more  intimately  and  directly  associated  with 
the  work  of  the  lawyer  and  of  the  merchant  and  the 


18 


273 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

manufacturer  than  are  the  studies  in  classical 
philology,  physics,  and  astronomy,  are  chosen. 

These  studies  also  do  not  necessitate  so  abstract 
and  exact  thinking  as  mathematical  and  scientific 
studies.  These  subjects  do  allow  thinking  of  an 
abstract  and  exact  nature.  The  mind  sees  what 
the  mind  brings  for  seeing.  Therefore  the  large 
and  exact  mind  will  bring  large  and  exact  relation- 
ships into  English  and  history  and  economics— of 
course  it  will.  It  is  simply  ridiculous  to  suggest 
that  it  will  not  or  does  not.  But  I  am  also  sure 
that  the  ordinary  college  student  in  history  does 
not  think  so  accurately  or  so  strongly  as  does  the 
ordinary  college  student  in  mathematics  or  physics. 
The  great  majority  of  the  college,  as  also  the  great 
majority  of  the  community,  does  not  give  itself  to 
exact  and  abstract  and  abstruse  reflection.  The 
college  community,  therefore,  chooses  those  studies 
which  fall  in  with  general  intellectual  habits  and 
tendencies. 

It  is  to  be  said,  moreover,  that  these  studies  repre- 
sent what  may  be  called  the  culture  side  of  life  and 
not  the  side  of  discipline.  Men  in  college  are  in- 
clined to  believe,  and  of  course  with  some  degree 
of  reason,  that  the  disciplinary  element  of  training 
has  been  furnished  for  them  in  the  preparatory 
school,  and  that  for  them  the  college  represents 
the  general  relations  of  enrichment.  It  is  also  evi- 
dent that  English,  history,  economics,  and  philoso- 
phy represent  culture  to  a  degree  which  physics 
and  mathematics  and  zoology  do  not.  The  sciences 
stand,  in  general,  for  training  in  method,  and  this 

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of  the  Twentieth  Century 

method  is,  in  general,  the  method  of  simple  think- 
ing. If  this  be  true,  such  subjects  as  literature 
and  history  and  economics  represent  not  so  much 
a  method  as  they  represent  a  content ;  this  con- 
tent results  in  the  enrichment  of  the  mind  and  the 
character  of  the  student. 

The  second  question  is  the  general  question 
whether  it  is  best  for  college  men  to  choose  studies 
in  the  proportion  in  which  they  are  chosen.  Be- 
fore answering  it  I  wish  to  make  a  few  provi- 
sional remarks.  (1)  It  is  best  for  college  men,  like 
men  in  every  condition,  to  make  their  own  great 
choices  in  life.  The  law  of  liberty  is  a  very  good 
law,  although  it  carries  along  with  itself  very  seri- 
ous perils.  God  sees  fit  to  give  men  freedom  of 
will,  although  knowing  they  will  abuse  this  free- 
dom. College  men  may,  and  should,  get  all  the 
counsel  possible  for  the  determination  of  their 
courses,  but  it  is  best  for  them  ever  and  every- 
where to  bear  the  responsibility  of  their  own  choos- 
ing. (2)  All  studies  are  good.  No  man  can  take 
up  a  study  in  college,  however  dull  he  may  be,  how- 
ever dull  the  teacher  may  be,  however  dull  the  study 
may  be,  without  receiving  some  advantage.  (3) 
Studies  have  different  values  for  different  men. 
One  student  gets  an  insight  into  life  through  phi- 
losophy. Another  student  gets  an  insight,  equally 
fresh  and  fine,  through  mathematics.  To  another 
student  philosophy  is  nonsense,  and  mathematics 
inscrutable.  (4)  Teachers,  too,  have  different  powers 
over  different  students.  The  teacher  having  tre- 
mendous influence  over  Mr.  A.  may  have  no  infin- 

^75 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

ence  at  all  over  Mr.  B.  Seldom  does  a  very  strong 
teacher  have  the  same  influence  over  two  students. 

(5)  In  the  conduct  of  a  course  of  study,  the  teacher 
is  a  more  important  element  than  the  course  itself. 
Personality  is  more  than  knowledge,  and  person- 
ality is  the  chief  element  in  the  promotion  of  cul- 
ture and  of  discipline.  One  may  change  the  words 
of  Emerson  and  say,  "  I  don't  care  what  you  teach. 
What  you  are  is  so  much  more  than  what  you  teach 
that  I  don't  know  the  subject  which  you  teach." 

(6)  The  value  of  the  teacher  to  the  student  dif- 
fers in  different  subjects.  The  worth  of  the  teacher 
to  the  student  is  greater  in  elementary  Sanskrit 
than  in  elementary  mathematics,  in  English  com- 
position than  in  English  history.  (7)  In  teaching, 
the  individuality  of  the  student  is  to  be  considered 
by  the  teacher.  He  is  to  be  able  to  call  each  stu- 
dent by  name.  He  is  never  to  teach  masses.  He 
is  to  pick  his  fruit  by  hand.  The  chief  aid  of 
pedagogy  is  to  aid  the  teacher  in  ministering  to  the 
needs  of  the  individual  student.  (8)  In  this  present 
discussion  the  most  important  element,  that  of 
moral  character,  is  purposely  omitted.  Moral  char- 
acter is  the  most  important.  Of  course  it  is  more 
important  to  have  pure  hearts  than  clear  heads, 
to  practise  the  virtues  than  to  know  the  verities,  to 
be  just  than  to  be  able  to  explain  the  ground  of 
the  theory  of  moral  obligation. 

Now,  reverting  to  our  question,  Is  it  for  the 
advantage  of  the  students  of  Harvard  College  to 
choose  their  studies  as  they  do?  Is  it  best  for 
them,  is  it  best  for  the  students  of  all  colleges,  to 

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of  the  Twentieth  .Century 

choose  the  same  studies  and  in  the  same  propor- 
tion, or,  what  is  more  important  still,  is  it  best  for 
the  improvement  of  the  American  community  and 
for  the  enrichment  of  American  life  ?  "What  is  the 
supreme  need  of  American  society?  The  answer 
leaps  to  the  pen  or  to  the  lip.  It  is  the  need  of 
men  who  can  think.  To  think,  to  judge,  to  weigh 
evidence,  to  reason  and  to  infer,  represent  a  com- 
mon and  great  need  of  the  American  community. 
The  American  community  is,  on  the  whole,  honest, 
and  the  American  community  is,  on  the  whole,  in- 
telligent, but  the  American  community  cannot 
think.  The  American  community  has  other  needs, 
it  is  true.  One  may  say  it  lacks  culture  and  appre- 
ciation. One  may  also  affirm  that  its  honesty  is 
none  too  honest,  and  that  its  intelligence  could  fit- 
tingly be  broadened.  But  every  political  campaign 
proves  that  the  chief  need  is  the  power  to  know 
that  two  plus  two  equal  four — the  power  to  reason. 
Therefore,  in  general,  the  answer  to  our  question 
lies  in  the  answer  to  yet  another  question  as  to 
whether  the  American  college  is  making  the  thinker. 
Matthew  Arnold,  in  his  "Higher  Schools  and  Univer- 
sities in  Germany  "  (p.  155),  says  that  the  prime  and 
direct  aim  of  instruction  is  to  enable  every  man  "  to 
know  himself  and  the  world."  If  by  this  phrase  Mr. 
Arnold  mean  that  the  supreme  purpose  of  education 
is  to  enable  a  man  to  think,  to  reason,  to  judge,  the 
phrase  is  wisely  made ;  but  if  the  remark  be  a  ref- 
erence to  the  value  of  knowledge  as  such,  it  is  a 
remnant  of  barren  educational  discussion.  The 
thinker  represents  what  both  Plato  and  Aristotle 

277 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

make  the  supreme  result  of  education.  Aris- 
totle would  apply  this  result  rather  to  the  individ- 
ual and  Plato  to  the  state,  but  the  power  to  think 
is  held  by  both  the  idealist  and  the  peripatetic  as 
the  chief  power  in  training. 

It  is  easy  enough  to  divide  studies  into  classes 
which  represent  nature,  humanity,  and  those  which 
concern  space  and  time.  Do  all  or  any  one  of 
these  studies  create  the  thinker?  If  they  do  not, 
what  do  they  create  in  the  mind  of  man ! 

What  is  the  unique  or  special  advantage  which 
studies  that  relate  to  nature,  the  natural  and  physi- 
cal sciences,  possess  ?  The  answer  to  be  at  once 
given  is  that  they  possess  relations  which  train  the 
power  of  observation.  The  physicist,  the  chemist, 
the  biologist,  the  geologist,  is  primarily  an  observer. 
He  is  to  see  what  is  set  before  him,  he  is  to  see  all 
that  is  set  before  him,  and  he  is  to  see  nothing  that 
is  not  set  before  him.  The  remark  which  the  great 
Agassiz  made  to  his  student,  "  Look  at  your  fish ! 
Look  at  your  fish  !  Look  at  your  fish !  "  is  still  and 
ever  significant.  The  eye  is  the  chief  external  organ 
of  the  scientist.  It  is  not,  however,  the  only  organ, 
and  observation  is  not  the  only  resultant  of  scien- 
tific training.  Having  seen,  the  scientific  student  is 
to  compare,  to  infer,  to  conclude.  He  is  to  put  his 
two  and  two  together  and  to  make  them  into  four. 
He  reaches  the  abstract  principle  through  collecting 
specific  observations.  Scientific  studies,  therefore, 
are  a  training  in  observation  and  in  reasoning.  They 
do  train  the  power  of  thinking,  and  they  are  pre- 
eminently fitted  this  power  to  train. 

278 


of  the  Twentieth  Century 

It  is  also  to  be  said  that  linguistic  study  is  essen- 
tially and  practically  a  scientific  study.  In  lin- 
guistic study  observation  is  the  primary  element. 
The  student  is  to  see  what  is  before  him,  to  see  all 
that  is  before  him,  and  to  see  nothing  else.  But 
having  seen,  the  next  step  of  the  linguistic  student 
is  not  the  inductive  one,  which  is  the  second  step 
in  the  study  of  the  sciences ;  but  the  next  step  is  a 
deductive  one,  in  which  he  relates  the  special  case 
under  observation  to  a  general  law.  It  is  therefore 
to  be  affirmed  that  in  at  least  one  important  respect 
linguistic  study  has  a  value  identical  with  scien- 
tific study  in  the  training  of  the  powers  of  observa- 
tion. This  training  in  observation  is  in  essence  the 
same  as  the  training  in  discrimination,  which  is  the 
result  usually  suggested  as  the  chief  result  of  lin- 
guistic discipline. 

Mathematical  study  is  akin  to  scientific,  and  yet 
in  many  respects  it  is  unlike.  Mathematical  study 
is  the  study  of  absolute  truth.  It  is  thinking 
God's  thoughts,  as  science  is  the  study  of  God's 
works.  Mathematics  leads  the  mind  to  reason 
as  no  other  study  does  lead  it.  Mathematics  is 
nothing  but  reasoning.  It  represents  the  putting 
of  two  and  two  together  and  of  making  them  into 
four.  It  does  not  ask  what  either  two  stands  for, 
but  it  is  eager  to  get  the  two  and  two  into  right 
relationship.  Yet,  be  it  said,  mathematics  is  a  bad 
study  to  make  one  think  as  he  is  obliged  to  think 
in  life  itself.  For  in  mathematics  every  element 
is  fixed  and  exact.  Nothing  is  uncertain.  Two 
plus  two  always  and  everywhere  equal  four.     But 

279 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

in  life  no  element  is  fixed,  no  condition  is  exact,  no 
state  is  certain.  At  every  point  uncertainty  prevails. 
The  mathematician  is  not,  therefore,  a  good  man 
for  reasoning  about  the  practical  concerns  of  a 
very  practical  age. 

One  among  the  many  advantages  derived  from 
the  study  of  economics  receives  a  contrasted  illus- 
tration in  what  I  have  just  said  respecting  mathe- 
matics ;  for  if  there  be  any  department  in  which 
conditions  are  unsettled  and  unknown,  it  is  in  the 
department  of  economics  and  social  phenomena. 
There  is  no  subject  in  which  so  many  elements 
enter,  and  so  many  elements,  too,  the  exact  content 
of  which  it  is  so  hard  to  determine.  The  investi- 
gator cannot  be  sure  of  all  his  facts,  and  cannot  be 
sure  also  that  he  is  rightly  interpreting  all  condi- 
tions. Only  Omniscience  can  know  man  or  man's 
relations  completely.  Therefore  it  is  plain  that 
the  study  of  economic  phenomena  contains  rare 
and  rich  possibilities  for  developing  thinkers,  and 
thinkers,  too,  who  are  in  touch  with  life.  The  study 
of  history  is  quite  unlike  the  study  of  political  econ- 
omy, although  the  two  subjects  are  often  associ- 
ated in  the  college  curriculum.  Its  facts  are  less 
uncertain,  although  they  are  uncertain  enough.  Its 
conditions  are  sufficiently  obscure.  History  has  to 
do  with  man  as  he  has  been  and  under  diverse  con- 
ditions. Its  study  lies  in  tracing  the  great  law  of 
cause  and  effect.  "When  studied  as  distinct  phe- 
nomena, history  trains  the  power  of  memory,  and 
when  studied  as  related  phenomena,  as  always  it 
ought  to  be  studied,  it  trains,  of  course,  the  element 

280 


of  the  Twentieth  Century 

of  reasoning.  Historians  are  as  good  reasoners  as 
are  scientists,  but  their  reasoning  has  none  of  the 
absoluteness  and  exactness  of  that  of  the  scientist. 
The  scientist  is  concerned  primarily  with  method, 
and  secondarily  with  content.  The  historian  is, 
however,  concerned  primarily  with  content  and 
only  secondarily  with  method.  But  both  are  con- 
cerned with  bringing  forth  a  correct  interpretation. 
What  is  known  as  English  in  the  college  course 
has  at  least  three  distinct  relations — the  philologi- 
cal, the  literary  or  historical,  and  the  creative. 
As  philology,  the  study  of  English  has  the  same 
value  as  any  other  philological  study,  as  Latin  or 
Greek,  possesses.  This  value  is  essentially  the 
scientific  value  of  exact  observation.  As  an  his- 
torical product,  and  as  a  literary  condition  and 
result,  English  opens  to  the  student  the  great  law 
of  cause  and  effect,  as  does  the  study  of  history 
itself.  It  is  also  to  be  said  that  it  opens  the  trea- 
sure-house of  the  choicest  achievement  of  the  great 
creative  minds.  Yet  enrichment  itself,  it  is  ever 
to  be  affirmed,  is  not  a  discipline.  A  mind  can  be 
rich  without  being  well  trained,  as  a  mind  can  be 
well  trained  without  being  rich.  By  means  of 
writing,  too,  the  value  of  English  becomes  of  the 
highest,  but  the  writing  is  ever  to  be  of  a  character 
to  demand  and  to  train  the  power  of  thinking.  Al- 
together too  much  of  the  writing  at  most  colleges 
is  of  a  purely  descriptive  or  expository  sort.  Writ- 
ing of  this  sort  has,  of  course,  value.  Much  writing, 
too,  done  not  only  in  the  literary  courses,  but  in 
other  courses  as  well,  consists  in  what  are  known  as 

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Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

"theses."  A  thesis  is  made  primarily  by  reading 
whatever  has  been  written  respecting  the  subject  of 
the  thesis,  and  in  pursuing  investigations  respect- 
ing the  subject.  Of  course  thought  is  required  in 
this  investigation  and  writing,  but  the  demands 
made  upon  one's  thinking  power  in  preparing  such 
theses  is  not  usually  so  great  as  the  demands  made 
upon  one's  industry  and  patience.  The  colleges  are 
defective  in  not  requiring  a  sufficient  amount  of 
purely  argumentative  composition.  The  making 
of  an  argument  by  the  student,  and  the  criticism  of 
the  argument  thus  made  by  the  teacher,  represents 
one  of  the  most  effective  forms  of  intellectual  train- 
ing. President  Woolsey  gave  noble  service  to  the 
individual  students  of  Yale  College  for  twenty-five 
years,  but  no  service  is  remembered  with  heartier 
gratitude  than  the  conferences  which  he  held  with 
students  over  their  writing  on  important  themes. 

Now,  one  thing  is  to  be  said  about  these  human 
studies  of  economics,  history,  and  English,  and  that 
is  that  one  can  with  ease  and  from  a  superficial 
understanding  of  these  subjects  receive  advantages. 
One  can  taste  of  these  subjects  and  get  satisfaction. 
Such  superficial  understanding  is  superficial;  it 
has  all  the  merits  and  demerits  of  superficiality; 
but  one  cannot  so  easily  be  superficial  in  a  study 
such  as  mathematics  or  physics  with  any  corre- 
sponding advantage  as  he  can  in  the  case  of  the 
studies  of  history  and  economics  and  English.  In 
mathematical  and  physical  studies  progress  is 
stopped  at  any  point,  unless  one  has  taken  practi- 
cally all  the  steps  that  lead  up  to  that  one  point. 

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One  cannot  master  the  fourth  book  of  Euclid  with- 
out having  mastered  the  third,  and  he  cannot  under- 
stand the  third  without  knowing  both  the  first  and 
the  second.  But  one  can  receive  advantage  from 
trying  to  understand  the  constitutional  struggle 
under  George  III  without  thoroughly  understand- 
ing the  struggle  under  James  I,  and  one  can  get 
great  good  from  studying  the  Cromwellian  period 
without  knowing  the  Elizabethan.  It  may  there- 
fore be  safely  said  that  slight  study  and  slight 
understanding  of  certain  studies  may  bring  a 
much  richer  result  than  a  slight  study  and  under- 
standing of  other  subjects.  History,  economics, 
and  English  rather  tempt  one  to  superficiality  than 
do  physics  and  the  calculus.  Here  is,  be  it  said, 
emphasized  the  need  of  good  teaching  in  the  pres- 
entation of  these  subjects  which  may  be  lightly 
treated.  The  teacher  is  commissioned  to  oblige 
the  student  to  get  many  advantages  from  those 
studies  from  which  he  might  be  content  with  re- 
ceiving small  advantages. 

Philosophy  was  formerly  regarded  as  the  crown 
of  the  educational  curriculum.  It  is  the  study  of 
man  himself.  It  is  the  most  regenerative  of  the 
mind  of  man.  It  is  the  most  awakening  of  all 
studies.  Many  a  student  does  not  find  himself  until 
he  reaches  philosophy.  It  is,  to  use  the  Socratic 
phrase,  the  midwife  of  one's  second  or  intellectual 
birth.  It  touches  upon  all  elements  of  being  which 
are  present  in  all  other  studies.  It  demands  think- 
ing as  hard  as  mathematics  demands.  Its  content, 
too,  has  an  interest  to  many  minds  which  mathe- 

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Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

inatics  does  not,  and  cannot,  arouse.  It  requires  an 
interpretation  of  the  phenomena  of  life,  as  large  as 
that  required  in  history.  It  also  requires  observa- 
tion, more  exact  and  more  difficult  than  is  required 
in  the  physical  sciences.  It  invites,  too,  argumen- 
tation of  all  sorts. 

The  results  of  this  somewhat  wide  survey  of  the 
special  value  of  different  courses  of  study  are  now 
evident.  Harvard  College,  like  every  American 
college,  is  graduating  men  of  richer  attainments 
than  the  college  of  the  earlier  time.  The  graduate 
approaches  nearer  the  type  of  the  gentleman  of 
culture.  Knowledge  is  more  affluent,  appreciation 
of  the  best  more  adequate  and  more  common.  In- 
sight has  gained  in  frequency  and  in  power.  The 
force  for  entering  into  executive  conditions  and  of 
showing  one's  self  a  master  in  doing  things  has 
vastly  increased.  The  American  college  is  training 
men  into  gentlemen  as  does  the  English  univer- 
sity. But  it  must  be  said  that  the  studies  which 
are  the  most  popular  at  many  colleges  do  not  train 
men  in  the  power  of  thinking,  as  they  do  train  men 
in  the  power  of  knowing  and  of  appreciating.  The 
college  is  making  scholars  rather  than  thinkers. 
It  is  good  to  make  a  scholar ;  it  is  better  to  make 
a  thinker.  American  life  needs  scholars  much; 
American  life  needs  thinkers  more. 

To  discuss  the  methods  for  the  promotion  of  the 
power  of  thinking  in  the  American  college  would 
lead  one  too  far  afield.  Two  things  at  least  may  be 
said :  first,  far  greater  care  should  be  exercised  in 
the  choice  of  teachers  in  order  to  secure  those  who 

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are  able  to  train  thinkers;  and  secondly,  proper 
urging  should  be  given  to  men,  on  the  part  of  ad- 
visers and  counselors,  to  take  severer  and  more 
thought-provoking  courses. 

A  third  question  which  is  transferred  to  the 
next  age  relates  to  the  uniting  of  a  wider  inclu- 
siveness  of  students  of  ordinary  abilities  with  the 
giving  of  special  training  to  the  ablest  students. 
A  college  education  should  become  yet  more  com- 
mon for  common  men ;  and  also  a  college  education 
should  become  yet  more  precious  for  the  best  men. 
We  are  now  educating  more  than  one  man  to  every 
one  thousand  of  the  population — a  larger  propor- 
tion than  ever  obtained  in  this  country  or  than  now 
obtains  in  any  other  country  of  the  world.  But 
this  relative  superiority  should  be  still  further  en- 
hanced. Every  man  and  every  woman  should  re- 
ceive just  as  high  and  rich  an  education  as  possible. 
Education  should  become  common,  indeed ;  but  the 
peril  is  that  in  making  education  common  we  are 
neglecting  the  uncommon  man.  The  need  of  the 
uncommon  man  is  great,  very  great.  The  Ameri- 
can people  is  peculiarly  volatile.  Its  emotions  are 
easily  excited.  It  can  be  stampeded  with  an  ease 
which  is  at  once  a  joy  and  a  despair.  The  impor- 
tance, therefore,  of  leadership  is  of  the  utmost 
urgency  in  the  conduct  of  American  affairs.  Its 
importance  cannot  be  overstated.  The  uncommon 
man  who  is  poor  in  purse  must,  at  all  events,  be 
educated;  and  the  uncommon  man  who  is  rich 
should  not  be  deterred  by  any  cause  from  giving 
himself  a  superlative  discipline  and  training  for 

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Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

life's  supreme  service  as  well  as  for  life's  slightest 
duties.  Let  the  college  be  great  in  numbers,  so 
many  are  the  common  fellows  who  are  flocking  to 
it.  Let  the  college  also  be  great  because  the  college 
is  the  creator  and  the  nurse  of  great  men  for  great 
affairs. 

These  two  conditions  have  a  close  relation  to 
each  other.  Some  men  indicate  their  ability  early 
in  life,  and  we  know  as  they  pass  into  their  teens 
that  they  are  to  become  highly  useful  members  of 
society.  Gladstone,  every  one  in  his  undergraduate 
days  at  Oxford  knew,  was  to  become  a  great  man ; 
but  whether  he  would  show  his  greatness  as  a 
bishop  or  an  archbishop  or  as  a  prime  minister  no 
one  dared  to  prophesy.  And  Gladstone  in  his  last 
years  wrote  an  article  on  Arthur  Hallam,  indicating 
that  Hallam  was  a  man  about  whom  prophecies  of 
the  highest  eminence  clustered.  But  other  men  do 
not  show  signs  of  promise  early.  They  are,  like 
Walter  Scott  and  Francis  Maitland  Balfour,  the 
biologist,  backward  boys.  Their  development  is 
slow.  From  the  multitude  of  ordinary  men  who 
come  up  to  the  college  we  shall  get  a  few  men  of 
extraordinary  power  as  manifested  in  life's  career. 
It  is,  therefore,  well  to  educate  all  men  for  the  en- 
richment of  American  life  and  for  the  elevation  of 
the  type  of  American  character.  It  is  also  worth 
while  to  educate  all  men  for  the  sake  of  discovering 
the  worthiest  men  in  the  general  multitude. 

The  education  for  leadership  has  a  special  rela- 
tion to  one  of  the  later  developments  of  the  higher 
education.     The  graduate  school  is  the  chief  edu- 

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of  the  Twentieth  Century 

cational  development  of  an  institutional  form  in 
the  last  twenty-five  years.  The  larger  part  of  its 
students  have  become  teachers.  Of  the  twenty-six 
men  who  took  the  degree  of  doctor  of  philosophy 
at  Harvard  College  at  the  commencement  of  1898, 
twenty-one  at  once  entered  the  profession  of  teach- 
ing. This  result  is  natural,  and  is  also  to  be 
commended.  In  the  new  century,  however,  the 
graduate  school  should  be  a  school  not  alone  for 
teachers,  but  for  men  of  all  educational  sorts  and 
all  professional  conditions.  To  it  should  come, 
and  I  believe  to  it  will  come,  men  who  propose  to 
become  doctors,  lawyers,  clergymen,  not  to  secure 
professional  training,  but  to  secure  a  richer  and 
finer  training  before  entering  upon  their  profes- 
sional disciplines.  To  it  the  ordinary  student  will 
not  come ;  but  the  men  who  have  means  and  leisure 
and  ability  should  come  in  increasing  numbers. 

Because,  therefore,  of  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  field  of  learning,  and  because  of  the  high  devel- 
opment which  certain  parts  of  this  field  are  receiv- 
ing, the  next  century  should  be  prepared,  more  than 
has  been  the  present  century,  to  adopt  and  to  use 
the  greatest  variety  of  educational  tools — the  lin- 
guistic tool,  the  scientific  tool,  the  historical  tool, 
the  philosophical  tool,  the  sociological  tool.  Each 
has  special  and  peculiar  values.  The  linguistic 
and  the  mathematical  tools  are  the  oldest,  and 
men  have  learned  how  to  use  them  well.  They 
carve  and  cut,  they  form  and  shape  and  smooth, 
the  human  mind  more  quickly  and  gracefully,  be- 
cause of  their  centuries  of  use.     The  scientific  tool 

287 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

the  educator  has  not  yet  learned  to  use  with  any 
great  efficiency.  In  the  next  age  he  will  acquire 
the  desired  dexterity. 

To  unite  vitality  in  the  teacher  with  expert 
knowledge  is  another  problem  which  the  age  just 
closing  carries  over  into  the  new.  Vitality  is  the 
content  of  a  full  and  vigorous  personality.  To 
overestimate  its  importance  to  the  teacher,  or  to 
any  one  whose  relations  are  with  men,  is  impossible. 
It  is  life— life  fullest,  largest,  most  living.  It  is 
health — health  which  is  healthy  and  healthful.  It 
is  largeness  of  faculty  and  the  proper  action  of 
function.  It  is  the  surplus  of  every  sort.  It  is 
force.  In  its  origin  it  is  constitutional,  belonging 
to  the  whole  personality.  In  its  sense  of  continu- 
ance and  enlargement  its  nourishment  is  drawn 
from  all  that  can  minister  to  the  individual  welfare. 
In  its  results  it  is,  of  course,  rich  and  splendid. 
Without  it,  no  one  dealing  with  men  can  hope  for 
the  noblest  results.  With  it,  whatever  else  a  man 
may  lack,  he  may  be  assured  that  he  will  secure 
not  unworthy  effects.  It  is  that  quality  which,  of 
all  our  earlier  authors,  was  supremely  possessed 
by  the  great  Sir  Walter;  and  among  all  living 
authors  it  is  the  quality  which  makes  Kipling  ad- 
mirable, and  which  constitutes  no  small  share  of 
his  moving  force.  To  his  task  the  teacher  must 
bear  this  great  quality  of  life;  and  from  him  his 
task  must  not  take  it  away.  For,  be  it  said,  the 
teacher  is  in  peril  lest  his  task  do  take  away  his 
life.  That  dull  and  tired  eye  is  not  an  uncommon 
characteristic  of  the  veteran  teacher.    It  means 

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of  the  Twentieth  Century 

that  the  peril  of  losing  vitality  has  actually  mate- 
rialized. That  faithfulness  which  is  as  long  as  the 
school  year  and  as  constant  as  the  recitations,  the 
never-ceasing  draft  of  question  and  answer,  sending 
life  from  heart  to  head  and  from  head  to  heart,  the 
anxiety  for  the  indifferent  or  for  the  evil — these, 
and  all  such  conditions,  draw  from  the  teacher  his 
best  and  his  fullest  power.  The  teacher  must  be 
vital.  School  boards  and  school  trustees  are  wise 
in  judgment  and  sound  in  administration  when  they 
demand  a  living  teacher.  But  school  boards  and 
school  trustees  are  too  often  not  wise  in  judgment 
in  allowing  the  life  of  the  teacher  to  be  sapped  and 
sucked. 

But  expert  knowledge  is  also  required;  and  ex- 
pert knowledge  is  narrower  by  far,  of  course,  than 
the  region  that  vitality  covers.  Expert  knowledge 
belongs  to  the  intellect.  But  we  know  too  well  that 
the  student  becoming  a  teacher  may  know  his  sub- 
ject largely,  thoroughly,  adequately.  Has  he  not 
spent  his  four  years  in  Germany  and  taken  his 
doctor's  degree  magna  cum  f  Has  he  not  surveyed 
the  field  and  written  his  dissertation  on  one  small 
corner  of  the  wide  domain?  The  man  of  know- 
ledge, large  and  exact,  is  constantly  sought  for. 
This  equipment  has  been  secured  through  years 
of  general  and  special  study.  But  the  price  so 
often  paid  for  this  fine  and  rich  equipment  has 
not  found  its  chief  element  of  expense  in  time  or 
money,  but  in  life.  As  the  intellect  of  the  stu- 
dent has  become  enlarged  and  enriched  and  trained, 
the  vitality  of  the  student  has  become  drained, 
19  289 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

depleted,  and  impaired.  How  many  instances  there 
are  of  this  sort  is  known  to  all  who  have  followed 
American  lads  from  the  age  of  fifteen  to  the  age  of 
thirty.  Of  course  there  are  many  instances  of  the 
opposite  class  We  know  men  whose  intellects  are 
trained  and  enlarged  and  enriched,  and  whose  per- 
sonality is  still  strong  and  noble.  The  elder  Agassiz 
is,  of  course,  a  trite  example ;  but  also  every  college 
can  furnish  examples  of  such  a  worthy  union. 
The  problem  of  the  new  century  will  be  to  make 
the  condition  of  vitality  in  the  teacher  not  only 
consistent  with  but  promotive  of  power  of  the  in- 
tellect, and  to  make  large  intellectual  resources  the 
mighty  minister  to  a  vital  personality. 

Akin  to  this  question,  and  yet  in  certain  re- 
spects distinct  from  it,  is  the  question  of  uniting 
in  the  same  personality  culture  and  power.  Cul- 
ture is  primarily  a  function  of  the  intellect.  Power 
is  primarily  a  function  of  the  will.  The  man  of  cul- 
ture knows ;  the  man  of  power  does.  The  man  of 
culture  appreciates ;  the  man  of  power  executes. 
The  man  of  culture  gathers  up  the  treasures  of  many 
lives,  ages,  conditions ;  the  man  of  power  uses  every 
fact  as  a  tool  for  securing  results.  The  man  of  cul- 
ture is  good ;  the  man  of  power  is  good  for  some- 
thing. The  man  of  culture  is  in  peril  of  selfishness ; 
the  man  of  power  is  in  peril  of  rashness.  The  man  of 
culture  is  in  peril  of  sitting  by  the  side  of  the  ocean 
of  life,  careless  of  or  indifferent  to  the  lives  that 
are  offering  themselves  to  its  dangers,  but  appreci- 
ative of  its  grandeur  and  sublimity;  the  man  of 
power  is  in  peril  of  rushing  into  the  tumultuous 

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of  the  Twentieth  Century 

waves  to  rescue  something,  whether  it  be  a  log  or 
a  wrecked  sailor  or  a  bottle— he  hardly  knows  what. 
The  old  college  did  not  make  the  man  of  culture, 
but  it  did  make  the  man  of  power.  The  new  col- 
lege is  doing  somewhat  to  make  the  man  of  culture. 
The  new  college  is  also  doing  somewhat  to  make 
the  man  of  power.  In  the  new  century  the  college 
will  exalt  each  purpose  and  will  also  unite  them. 
The  man  of  the  finest  culture  will  be  also  the  man 
of  the  greatest  power ;  and  the  man  of  the  greatest 
power  will  be  the  man  of  the  finest  culture. 

These  two  purposes  of  culture  and  power  are 
somewhat  embodied  in  the  two  special  schools  of 
the  higher  education.  It  is  a  notorious  fact  that 
the  modern  scientific  school,  called  by  various 
names,  such  as  technical,  polytechnic,  technologi- 
cal, does  not  train  gentlemen  of  culture.  It  makes 
good  engineers,  chemists,  electricians.  It  does 
not  make  men  of  learning.  The  college  does  not 
make  engineers  or  chemists  or  electricians,  but 
it  does  endeavor  to  make  men  of  liberal  learn- 
ing. The  union  of  these  two  sides  of  our  educa- 
tional course  would  be  exceedingly  advantageous. 
Let  the  scientific  school  make  the  technical  scholar  ; 
and,  in  making  him  such,  let  it  also  make  the  gen- 
tleman of  culture.  Let  the  college,  in  making  the 
man  of  culture,  make  also  the  engineer  or  the 
chemist  or  the  electrician.  In  a  word,  let  every 
scientific  school  be  a  part  of  a  college ;  and  yet  by 
no  means  should  every  college  have  in  its  asso- 
ciation a  scientific  school,  any  more  than  every 
college   should    be   connected  with  a  theological 

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Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

seminary.  Let  the  scientific  school  be  regarded  as 
a  professional  school  coordinated  with  the  school 
of  law  or  the  school  of  medicine,  and  not  as  coordi- 
nate with  the  undergraduate  college. 

There  is  still  another,  the  sixth,  question  which 
the  nineteenth  century  hands  over  to  the  twentieth. 
It  is  the  central  and  fundamental  question  of  the 
integrity  of  the  college.  The  college  is  beset  with 
foes  on  its  rear  and  on  its  front.  The  college  is 
between  the  millstones.  The  foe  on  the  rear  is  the 
fitting-school.  The  foe  on  the  front  is  the  profes- 
sional school.  The  antagonist  on  the  rear  is  an 
antagonist  not  because  of  its  desire,  but  by  reason 
of  the  conditions  of  the  college.  For  the  college 
has  from  time  to  time  increased  the  requirements 
for  admission  to  its  freshman  class  from  two  to 
three  years,  and  from  three  to  four  years,  so  that 
the  student  is  tempted  to  jump  over  the  college 
directly  from  the  academy  to  the  professional 
school.  To-day,  too,  one  sees  the  formation  of  a 
tendency  for  the  academy  to  do  the  work  of  the 
freshman  year.  In  a  recent  letter  to  me,  Principal 
Amen  of  Phillips  Exeter  Academy  says: 

I  believe  that  a  few  fitting-schools  will  soon  be  able  to 
do  the  work  of  the  freshman  year  quite  as  well  and  safely 
as  it  can  be  done  in  the  largest  colleges.  It  seems  to  me 
it  would  be  unfortunate  to  do  away  with  the  freshman 
year  in  the  smaller  colleges.  Many  Harvard  and  Yale 
freshmen  would,  in  my  judgment,  be  better  off  in  some 
of  the  secondary  schools  than  in  college. 

We  welcome  the  movement  at  Cambridge  for  a  three 
years'  course  as  a  happy  solution  of  our  special  problem. 

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of  the  Twentieth  Century 

If  the  requirements  there  for  a  degree  can  in  any  way 
be  lessened  by  one  or  two  courses,  we  can  save  many 
students  a  year  in  their  college  education.  Something 
should  be  done  to  enable  students  to  reach  the  profes- 
sional schools  earlier. 

On  the  other  side,  the  professional  school  is  un- 
wittingly tending  to  render  the  college  impossible. 
The  college  has  surrendered  to  the  professional 
school  in  a  degree  through  allowing  courses  in  the 
professional  school,  in  certain  instances,  to  count 
also  toward  its  own  first  degree.  The  college  is 
thus  in  peril  of  losing  its  first  year  and  also  its 
last.  The  academy  is  willing,  and  eager,  to  do  the 
first  year's  work.  The  professional  school  is  willing 
to  do  the  senior  year's  work.  The  college,  on  the 
whole,  seems  to  be  quite  willing  for  the  profes- 
sional school  to  do  at  least  a  part  of  the  senior 
year's  work,  as  it  is  also  manifesting  no  special 
unwillingness  for  the  academy  to  do  the  freshman 
year's  work.  We,  therefore,  are  left  with  a  college 
not  of  three  years,  but  only  of  two  !  Let  it  not  be 
inferred  that  this  condition  is  not  a  serious  one; 
for  signs  of  the  movement  do  warrant  the  appli- 
cation of  the  word  "  serious"  to  its  condition. 

And  yet  it  is  easy  to  suggest  several  considera- 
tions which  favor  the  shortening  of  the  college 
course  to  two  years.     Among  them  are : 

1.  The  better  differentiation  of  American  educa- 
tion. Education  may  be  said  to  cover  three  fields : 
first,  the  field  of  facts,  in  which  observation  is  the 
chief  intellectual  faculty ;  second,  the  field  of  rela- 
tions, in  which  reasoning  is  the  chief  intellectual  fac- 

293 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

ulty ;  and  third,  the  field  of  professional  knowledge, 
in  which  the  education  of  the  volitional  faculty  of 
application  is  the  chief,  though  not  the  only,  power. 
Through  putting  the  freshman  and  sophomore 
years  into  the  fitting-school  that  part  of  education 
which  demands  the  faculty  of  observation  becomes 
a  unit.  That  portion  is  now  dual,  part  being  in 
the  fitting-school  and  part  in  the  college.  Let  the 
fitting-school  stand  for  observation,  and  cover  five 
or  six  years,  as  may  be  proper;  let  the  college 
stand  for  the  sense  of  relations,  and  cover  two  years 
or  more ;  and  let  the  professional  school  stand  for 
the  direct  preparation  for  professional  service.  • 
2.  A  second  advantage  lies  in  a  large  economy 
in  money  and  in  time.  Education  as  given  by  the 
college  is  more  costly  than  education  as  given  by 
the  academy.  All  the  elements  of  expense  are 
placed  on  a  higher  basis  in  the  college.  Labora- 
tories are  more  extensive.  Books  are  more  nu- 
merous. The  larger  relations  of  studies  are  more 
constant.  The  general  scale  of  expenses  among 
college  men  is  higher  than  it  is  among  prepara- 
tory-school men.  I  think,  also,  there  would  be 
some  saving  in  time.  Freshmen  in  college  do  not, 
on  the  wThole,  work  so  hard  as  seniors  in  the  fitting- 
school.  I  think,  also,  that  sophomores  in  the  col- 
lege have  not  the  reputation  of  being  so  laborious 
as  are  seniors  in  the  fitting-school.  A  man,  too, 
needs  adjustment  to  his  environment  to  get  the 
best  intellectual  work  out  of  himself.  One,  there- 
fore, who  has  been  three  or  four  years  in  a  fitting- 
school  can  spend  one  or  two  years  more  with  less 

294 


of  the  Twentieth  Century 

expenditure  of  mental  force  and  in  the  securing  of 
larger  results,  than  he  would  be  obliged  to  make 
when  transferred  to  the  new  environment  of  col- 
lege life.  College  life  is  dissipating  of  time.  Pre- 
paratory-school life  promotes  concentration  of 
interest. 

3.  A  third  advantage  of  putting  the  first  two 
years  of  the  college  course  into  the  fitting-school 
is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  ethical  and  intellec- 
tual demands  for  supervision  in  the  first  two  years 
of  the  college  course  are  better  met  by  the  fit- 
ting-school than  by  the  college.  Many  freshmen 
and  sophomores  have  not  the  ability  to  care 
for  themselves.  They  do  need  a  parent.  The  col- 
lege cannot  stand  in  loco  parentis.  The  college 
cannot  know  the  freshman's  down-sittings  and  up- 
risings, his  goings  out  and  his  comings  in.  The 
college  must  leave  him  to  himself.  The  best  col- 
lege traditions  and  conditions  demand  that  the 
freshman  and  the  sophomore  be  left  to  himself. 
To  leave  him  to  himself  is,  of  course,  in  a  sense, 
the  application  of  the  divine  method  in  leaving 
men  to  themselves ;  but  the  college  method,  like 
the  divine,  is  pretty  costly  to  character.  Too  many 
men  in  the  earlier  part  of  their  college  career  go  to 
the  bad.  In  the  last  two  years  they  usually  re- 
cover themselves  and  go  to  the  good,  and  the  better, 
and  the  best.  Seldom  does  one  find  a  college  man 
a  permanent  moral  bankrupt.  Of  course,  under 
any  method,  some  men  will  go  into  moral  insol- 
vency, but  this  transfer  of  the  first  two  years  of 
the  college  course,  which  are  the  most   perilous 

29s 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

years,  to  the  academy,  allows  and  demands  that 
supervision  be  given  to  the  man.  For  this  super- 
vision the  academy  stands.     The  man  is  saved. 

4.  It  should  also  be  said  that  these  two  years 
would  be  sufficient  for  the  college  to  give  to  each 
student  what  may  be  called  "touch,"  the  college 
influence,  which  should  rest,  and  should  rest  per- 
manently, upon  every  man  who  has  been  to  col- 
lege. Some  men  do  not  get  this  touch  even  in  four 
years ;  others  get  it  even  in  one  year.  This  touch 
it  is  difficult  to  describe,  although  it  is  easy  to  per- 
ceive. It  means  that  a  new  and  powerful  influence 
has  come  into  the  man's  life.  His  ideals  have  been 
elevated,  his  manners  refined,  his  bearing  made 
more  gentlemanly,  his  natural  relationships  have 
become  richer;  not  only  is  his  power  to  think 
increased,  but  his  power  to  feel  is  augmented.  It 
is  this  result  which  is  secured  by  most  colleges 
over  most  students  in  the  last  two  years  of  the 
course.  For  securing  this  result  the  first  two 
years  of  the  college  may  be  necessary  in  at  least 
some  form,  but  it  is  in  the  last  two  years  that  the 
results  themselves  are  secured  and  made  apparent. 
Two  years  is  a  sufficient  time  for  the  promotion 
of  those  friendships  among  students  which  repre- 
sent one  of  the  most  important  elements  of  a  col- 
lege, and  it  is  also  a  sufficient  time  for  a  teacher  of 
power  to  do  a  great  work  for  those  students  who 
gather  in  his  class-room. 

These  reasons  do  have  value  in  favor  of  a  re- 
casting of  our  whole  educational  course ;  for  it  is 
no  less  true  now  than  ever  that  the  wise  man  is 

296 


of  the  Twentieth  Century 

not  so  wedded  or  welded  to  the  old  methods  which 
have  proven  beneficial  as  to  be  unwilling  to  sub- 
stitute for  them  new  methods  which  may  be  su- 
perior. But  I  do  venture  to  say  that  the  American 
people  are  not  willing  to  forego  the  annual  con- 
tribution to  its  best  forces  of  thousands  of  men  and 
women  who  have  simply  and  nobly  been  trained  in 
the  colleges  to  see  straight,  to  think  clearly,  to  love 
the  good,  to  choose  the  right,  and  to  delight  in  the 
beautiful.  The  American  people  are  not  prepared 
to  give  up  one  iota  of  this  general  worth  for  the 
sake  of  a  professional  training  a  bit  more  efficient 
or  for  a  professional  knowledge  a  bit  wider  or  more 
exact.  To  make  this  adjustment  the  new  century 
is  called  into  service.  The  new  century  will  dis- 
cover that  this  adjustment  is  to  be  made,  not  so 
much  in  the  professional  school  or  in  the  academy 
or  in  the  college,  but  in  the  grammar  and  the  pri- 
mary schools.  In  the  grammar  and  the  primary 
schools  time  is  to  be  saved,  better  methods  are  to 
be  adopted,  and  better  teachers  are  to  be  secured. 
A  seventh  question  which  the  nineteenth  trans- 
mits to  the  twentieth  century  relates  to  the  better 
training  of  candidates  for  the  law  and  for  medicine. 
In  the  United  States  are  67  law  schools,  having  8000 
students ;  143  medical  schools,  having  also  8000  stu- 
dents ;  and  159  theological  schools,  having  22,000 
students.  The  conditions  for  admission  to  these 
schools  vary  from  that  order  of  attainment  repre- 
sented in  high-school  education  to  that  represented 
in  a  college  degree.  About  one-half  of  the  students 
admitted  to  schools  of  theology  have  had  a  college 

297 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

training.  About  one-fifth  of  those  admitted  to 
schools  of  law  have  had  a  college  training.  But 
the  percentage  of  those  admitted  to  schools  of 
medicine  who  have  had  a  college  training  is  much 
smaller — so  small  that  it  is  difficult  to  make  an 
exact  estimate.  It  probably  does  not  exceed  seven 
per  cent. 

These  facts  are  of  value  in  themselves,  but  they 
are  of  greater  value  in  indicating  the  kind  of  law- 
yers, doctors,  and  ministers  the  American  profes- 
sional schools  are  turning  out  into  American  life. 
For  that  degree  of  preparation  that  one  has  on 
entering  a  professional  school  represents  the  charac- 
ter of  the  work  he  will  do  in  that  school ;  and  both 
the  preparation  for  professional  studies  and  the 
professional  studies  themselves  are  a  prophecy  of 
the  kind  of  men  who  are  entering  into  the  ser- 
vice of  the  community.  For  one  cannot  expect 
to  secure  lawyers  clear  in  vision,  profound  in  re- 
search, having  a  comprehensive  grasp  of  principles, 
and  a  power  to  apply  these  principles  wisely,  unless 
those  who  enter  the  law  schools  are  themselves 
already  well  trained.  One  cannot,  too,  expect  to 
secure  physicians  wise  and  comprehensive  in  diag- 
nosis, keen  to  discriminate,  able  to  weigh  evidence 
and  to  relate  every  fact  to  every  other  fact,  unless 
the  students  who  enter  the  medical  college  are  them- 
selves well  trained.  It  is  also  just  as  unreason- 
able to  expect  to  secure  clergymen  broad-minded, 
possessed  of  intellectual  sympathy  with  all  classes 
and  conditions  of  men,  acquainted  with  the  noblest 
results  of  humanity's  work  as  embodied  in  litera- 

298 


of  the  Twentieth  Century 

ture,  able  to  interpret  and  to  apply  truth,  able  also 
to  make  the  best  use  of  the  great  art  of  persuasive 
speech  and  writing,  unless  the  same  men,  when  they 
enter  the  school  of  theology,  are  liberally  educated. 
In  professional  studies  the  beginning  determines 
the  end,  and  the  end  also  determines  the  means  and 
the  method.  The  maxim  is  true — maintained  by 
broad  experience — that  "  he  who  is  not  a  good  law- 
yer when  he  comes  to  the  bar  will  seldom  be  a  good 
one  afterward."  The  maxim,  indeed,  may  be  made 
broader :  that  he  who  is  not  a  good  student  when  he 
enters  the  professional  school  will  not  be  a  good 
one  when  he  leaves  it,  and  if  he  be  not  a  good  stu- 
dent when  he  leaves  the  professional  school,  he  will 
not  be  a  good  doctor  or  lawyer  or  minister  when  he 
begins  his  professional  career. 

The  movement,  therefore,  toward  the  improve- 
ment of  the  professional  education  in  the  United 
States  is  one  of  very  great  significance.  It  is  of 
the  gravest  and  happiest  importance  to  American 
society.  I  may  say  now  as  well  as  at  any  time  that 
this  movement  is  at  the  present  moment  rather 
confined  to  legal  and  medical  education  than  to  the 
clerical.  For  the  simple  truth  is,  and  be  it  said 
with  regret,  that  clerical  education  has  not  in  the 
last  decade  been  manifesting  any  degree  of  im- 
provement in  certain  important  relations.  On  the 
whole,  when  one  estimates  the  value  of  the  clerical 
training  received  by  the  graduates  of  the  schools 
of  theology,  one  finds  himself  obliged  to  confess 
that  deterioration  has  been  the  result.  Into  our 
better  schools  of  theology  of  certain  churches  fewer 

299 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

men  possessed  of  a  liberal  education  are  now  en- 
tering than  did  enter  a  few  years  ago.  The  reason 
of  this  fact  is  that  the  opening  of  the  new  territory 
west  of  the  Mississippi  had  made  so  great  demand 
for  ministers  that  theological  seminaries  were  in- 
clined to  receive  into  their  membership  students 
who  were  not  willing  to  spend  the  time  sufficient  to 
give  themselves  a  college  education.  This  demand 
is  now  far  less  urgent  than  it  has  been,  and  we 
can  reasonably  anticipate  that  the  improvement 
which  has  already  taken  place,  and  which  even  now 
is  becoming  forceful  in  the  preparation  for  other 
professions,  will  soon  affect  the  schools  of  theology. 
Already  signs  appear  that  these  schools  are  becom- 
ing impressed  by  the  call  for  the  improvement  of 
the  training  which  they  give. 

In  this  improvement  the  profession  of  the  law  still 
lags  behind  the  profession  of  medicine.  In  a  sense, 
the  preparation  for  making  lawyers  is  now  in  the 
same  state  in  which  the  training  of  physicians  was 
two  score  of  years  ago.  In  1854  the  American  Medi- 
cal Association  adopted  resolutions  "  cordially  ap- 
proving of  the  establishment  of  private  schools  to 
meet  the  increased  desire  on  the  part  of  a  respec- 
table number  of  medical  students  for  a  higher  grade 
of  professional  education  than  can  usually  be  ac- 
quired by  reading  medicine  under  the  direction  of 
a  single  instructor." l  For  in  the  preparation  of  stu- 
dents for  the  practice  of  law  private  reading  is  still 
continued,  and  is,  on  the  whole,  the  more  popular 

1  Keport  of  the  Coiuiuissioiier  of  Education,  1889-90,  Vol.  II, 
p.  895. 

30O 


of  the  Twentieth  Century 

method,  although  its  popularity  is  rapidly  declining. 
It  is  seldom,  however,  that  a  man  now  enters  the 
medical  profession  who  has  not  been  trained  in  a 
medical  school.  Most  States  also  have  examining 
or  licensing  boards,  to  whom  any  one  who  wishes 
to  practise  the  healing  art  must  submit  evidence  of 
his  fitness  and  receive  permission  from  that  board 
in  order  to  practice.  Although  certain  States  are 
quite  as  strict  in  respect  to  the  granting  of  licen- 
sures to  lawyers  as  to  physicians,  yet  other  States 
are  notoriously  lax.  The  following  incident  is 
illustrative.  It  is  told  by  a  professor  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Missouri.  "  There  was  an  old  negro 
preacher  in  St.  Louis  who  conceived  the  idea  that 
if  he  were  only  able  to  hold  himself  out  as  a  lawyer 
as  well  as  a  preacher  he  would  do  a  flourishing 
trade  among  his  flock.  He  applied  for  admission 
in  St.  Louis  and  was  examined  in  open  court.  He 
had  spelled  his  way  through  a  few  hundred  pages 
of  Blackstone,  of  some  obsolete  law  dictionary,  and 
the  statutes  of  the  State.  Without  an  idea  of  any 
single  sentence  he  had  read,  his  examination  was, 
of  course,  a  comedy  of  errors,  but  though  rejected, 
he  was  not  dismayed.  In  a  few  weeks  he  turned 
up  again,  the  happy  possessor  of  a  certificate  of 
admission  to  the  circuit  court  in  one  of  the  interior 
counties,  and  thus  entitled  to  be  enrolled  in  any  and 
every  other  court  in  the  State.  The  first  client  he 
obtained  was  a  poor  negro  charged  with  murder. 
Though  the  prisoner  was  afterward  found  to  have 
acted  under  circumstances  of  justifiable  self-defense, 
the  management  of  the  case  resulted  in  a  verdict 

301 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

of  murder  in  the  first  degree  and  sentence  of  death. 
Then  the  poor  prisoner  became  frightened  and  re- 
tained a. lawyer.  It  was  a  rather  difficult  case  to 
appeal ;  there  were  no  points  reserved,  there  were 
no  errors  which  could  be  taken  advantage  of,  and 
the  only  possible  chance  was  to  ask  for  a  new  trial 
on  the  ground  of  the  ignorance,  imbecility,  and  in- 
competency of  the  attorney." J 

But  there  are  certain  practical  reasons  which  may 
be  urged  to  prove  that  those  who  enter  schools  for 
the  training  of  lawyers  and  of  doctors  should  have 
received  a  liberal  education. 

The  first  reason  which  I  suggest  relates  to  the 
importance  of  the  profession  of  the  law  to  Ameri- 
can life.  The  legal  profession  is  a  conservative 
element  in  a  society  essentially  progressive  and 
radical.  The  law,  common  and  statute,  represents 
more  adequately  than  any  other  condition  the 
struggles  of  humanity  in  its  endeavors  to  lift  itself 
up  from  an  animal  to  an  intellectual  level.  The 
law  embodies  the  methods  which  man  has  found 
to  be  of  value  in  securing  and  holding  the  rights 
of  society  and  of  person.  It  represents,  also,  the 
results  which  have  followed  from  the  use  of  these 
methods.  Trivial  as  many  statutes  are,  temporary 
as  certain  laws  must  be,  unworthy  as  much  of  our 
law-making  is,  yet  the  great  body  of  the  common 
law  and  the  great  body  of  the  statute  law  are  the 
deposit  of  the  best  living  of  humanity.  It  bears 
to  humanity  in  its  intellectual  conditions  a  relation 

1  Keport  of  the  Commissioner  of  Public  Education,  1893-94,  Vol. 
I,  p.  995. 

}Q2 


of  the  Twentieth  Century 

similar  to  that  which  the  cathedral  bore  to  society 
in  the  ecclesiastical  civilization  of  the  middle  ages. 
The  law,  more  than  any  other  resultant,  represents 
the  sum  and  substance  of  humanity's  struggles  and 
attainments. 

Therefore  it  is  of  extreme  importance  that  the 
courts  which  interpret  such  a  body  of  jurisprudence 
should  be  wise  and  learned  as  well  as  honest. 
Therefore  it  is  also  of  extreme  importance  that 
those  who  apply  these  laws  to  present  conditions 
should  be  able,  wise,  intelligent,  and  well  trained, 
as  well  as  faithful  in  all  intellectual  and  human  re- 
lations. The  law  without  the  lawyer  is  simply  the 
skeleton  without  life,  an  outline  of  thought  with- 
out content,  a  method  of  using  force  without  the 
force  itself.  Without  the  lawyer  the  law  would 
have  slight  or  no  value  to  humanity.  It  is,  there- 
fore, of  the  very  first  importance  that  the  lawyer 
himself  should  be  a  man  of  large  and  liberal  and 
noble  training. 

Akin  to  this  condition,  as  an  element  in  the  im- 
portance of  the  profession  of  the  law  to  the  Ameri- 
can people,  is  another  element :  it  is  the  importance 
of  justice  to  the  American  nation.  It  is  expressing 
a  very  sad  but  at  the  same  time  a  very  patent  fact 
to  say  that  in  many  instances  the  law  is  not  an  in- 
strument for  securing  justice.  This  proposition  is 
more  evident  to  those  who  deal  with  the  law  than 
to  those  who  are  not  immediately  and  constantly 
concerned  with  the  administration  of  law.  Those 
who  desire  to  obtain  or  to  maintain  their  rights 
often,  and  justly,  hesitate  to  submit  their  claims  to 

303 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

the  expense  and  the  doubts  that  belong  to  the 
methods  and  results  of  the  courts.  In  an  address 
made  before  the  American  Bar  Association  in  1894 
Frank  C.  Smith  of  New  York  said:  "Of  the 
29,942  cases  decided,  I  ascertained  that  14,447,  or 
forty-eight  per  cent.,  were  upon  points  of  proce- 
dure or  other  matters  not  involving  the  merits  of 
the  controversy."  Mr.  Smith  further  says :  "It  is 
essential  that  the  bar  shall  know  how  to  employ 
the  rules  of  legal  procedure  so  as  to  most  com- 
pletely and  surely  serve  principle.  But  so  far  has 
the  profession  fallen  from  this  ideal  that,  judged 
by  the  results  of  its  service  in  actual  litigation,  it 
is  to-day  a  monstrous  charlatan.  What  would  be 
said  of  a  trade  or  craft  against  which  it  could  be 
proven  that  in  an  average  of  nearly  fifty  per  cent, 
of  the  attempts  it  made  to  serve  its  patrons  it 
failed  to  secure  just  results  because  its  craftsmen 
did  not  understand  how  to  use  its  machinery,  or, 
understanding  this,  failed  to  employ  it  so  as  to 
attain  the  end  promised  when  it  was  trusted  to  do 
the  service  ?  Such  a  trade  could  not  retain  public 
respect  and  confidence  an  hour  after  its  inefficiency 
was  known.  No  more  can  one  of  the  learned  pro- 
fessions. Yet  this  is  the  exact  condition  of  the 
practice  of  law  in  this  country  to-day." 1 

The  simple  truth  is  that  the  profession  of  the  law 
is  not  an  instrument  of  justice  in  any  such  degree 
as  the  American  people  have  a  right  to  demand 
of  it. 

1  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  1893-94,  Vol.  I,  pp. 
99G,  997. 

304 


of  the  Twentieth  Century 

The  importance  of  the  medical  profession  to  the 
life  of  the  American  people  may  likewise  be  made 
the  basis  of  a  statement  to  prove  that  doctors 
should  also  have  a  liberal  education  before  they 
enter  into  the  pursuit  of  their  professional  educa- 
tion. It  goes  without  saying  that  the  medical  pro- 
fession is  important  not  only  to  the  individual  life 
but  also  to  the  life  of  the  whole  community.  The 
place  occupied  by  the  doctor  has  greatly  changed 
and  enlarged  in  the  course  of  the  last  generation. 
The  doctor  has  become  a  public  servant,  as  he  was 
before  a  servant  of  the  individual.  The  doctor  is 
now  set  not  simply  to  cure  the  ills  of  one  member 
of  the  human  family,  but  he  is  also  set  to  keep  all 
men  from  being  sick.  He  is  a  trustee  for  the  health 
of  the  community.  He  has  become  the  apostle 
of  health  and  healthfulness.  He  is  an  unofficial 
member  of  an  unofficial  board  of  health  in  every 
community,  and  in  not  a  few  communities  he  is  a 
member  of  a  properly  constituted  board  of  health. 
The  importance  of  his  profession  to  the  community 
is  made  still  more  evident  by  the  increasing  intri- 
cacy and  complexity  of  modern  life.  A  complex 
civilization  creates  diseases  from  which  a  simple 
community  is  free.  The  crowding  of  great  popu- 
lations  promotes  unhealthful  conditions.  The  pres- 
ence of  disease  becomes  more  perilous  as  the  people 
become  more  compact.  The  discoveries  made  in 
materia  medica  in  the  last  decade  have  increased 
the  duties  which  the  doctor  owes  to  himself  and 
to  the  community.  The  discoveries  in  the  art 
of  surgery  render  operations  now  common   and 

305 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

conimoiiplace  which  a  short  time  ago  were  regarded 
as  either  unique  or  as  absolutely  impossible.  These 
changes  have  put  upon  every  physician  the  obli- 
gation of  being  broad-minded  and  exact  in  obser- 
vation and  inference.  The  age  of  the  specialist 
has  come.  Every  doctor  in  ordinary  practice  must, 
in  a  sense,  be  a  union  of  all  the  specialists.  So 
wide  a  range  of  functions,  each  of  which  is  of  pecu- 
liar importance, — as  important  at  times  as  is  human 
life  itself, — makes  evident  the  proposition  that  the 
physician  should  have  the  most  liberal,  the  most 
profound,  and  the  most  disciplinary  of  trainings 
before  he  enters  into  his  professional  studies. 

A  further  reason  for  giving  our  students  a 
thorough  training  before  entering  into  the  profes- 
sional studies  of  the  law  or  medicine  lies  in  the 
scholastic  training  which  similar  students  in  France 
and  Germany  are  obliged  to  obtain.  In  France 
the  candidate  for  admission  to  the  medical  schools 
must  have  secured  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  arts 
or  of  bachelor  of  science.  In  Germany  he  must 
have  completed  the  course  in  the  gymnasium,  which 
represents  a  training  certainly  equivalent  to  that 
obtained  in  the  first  half  of  the  course  in  the  better 
American  colleges.  In  order  to  enter  into  the  prac- 
tice of  law,  in  most  Continental  countries,  a  man 
must  be  a  graduate  of  the  department  of  law  in  the 
university.  In  order  to  enter  into  the  department  of 
law  in  the  university  he  must  be  a  graduate  of  the 
gymnasium,  that  itself  prepares  for  the  university. 
These  conditions  apply  in  particular  to  Germany, 
Austria,  and  Switzerland.     In  France,  Italy,  Spain, 

306 


of  the  Twentieth  Century 

Belgium,  Holland,  Denmark,  Sweden,  Norway,  and 
Russia,  the  course  preparatory  to  the  study  of  law 
embraces  the  ancient  languages,  the  higher  mathe- 
matics, and  natural  sciences,  in  addition  to  history 
— a  course  that  is  probably  not  of  an  educational 
value  equal  to  that  given  in  the  best  American 
colleges,  but  that  is  probably  equivalent  to  that 
embraced  in  the  first  two  years  of  the  college. 
In  England  the  course  of  study  is  not  so  ex- 
tended. The  English  language,  the  Latin  language, 
a  knowledge  of  some  other  language, — either  Greek, 
French,  Grerman,  or  Italian, — and  English  history 
represent  the  subjects  in  which  the  student  is 
obliged  to  pass  examinations  before  he  can  enter 
upon  the  study  of  the  law. 

It  is  therefore  evident  that  the  preparation  which 
we  are  demanding  of  those  who  are  to  become  stu- 
dents of  law  or  of  medicine  is  very  much  inferior 
to  the  preparation  which  most  nations  require. 
The  movement,  therefore,  in  American  life  looking 
to  the  requiring  of  a  more  adequate  training  of 
those  who  purpose  to  enter  the  study  of  law  or 
medicine  represents  a  movement  on  the  part  of  the 
American  people  for  putting  itself  into  relationship 
with  the  best  movements  of  the  best  nations. 

The  question  of  the  time  necessary  for  securing 
an  adequate  preparation  for  professional  studies 
is,  as  I  have  already  intimated,  of  grave  impor- 
tance both  to  those  who  propose  to  become  law- 
yers and  to  those  who  propose  to  become  doctors. 
But  the  question  of  time  has  larger  significance 
for  the  doctor  than   for  the  lawyer.     The  aver- 

307 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

age  age  of  the  graduates  of  most  colleges  is  be- 
tween twenty-two  and  twenty-three  years.  In  the 
better  law  schools  the  course  of  study  occupies 
three  years.  In  the  larger  part  of  the  schools  it  is 
still  only  two  years,  and  in  a  very  few — and  the 
worst — it  is  only  one  year.  In  certain  States — as 
Ohio,  for  instance — three  years  of  the  study  of  law 
are  required  by  statute  before  the  candidate  is 
allowed  to  present  himself  for  admission  to  the  bar. 
The  student  of  law  is  therefore  twenty-six  years 
old  before  he  can  enter  into  his  professional  career. 
But  the  student  who  proposes  to  become  a  physi- 
cian finds  himself  at  once  obliged  to  spend  at  least 
one  year,  and,  if  he  be  worthy  and  of  high  purpose, 
two  or  three  years  more  than  his  legal  brother  has 
spent.  For  the  course  of  medical  education,  in 
all  schools  of  any  degree  of  worthiness,  occupies 
four  years.  If  the  candidate  wish  to  give  to  him- 
self the  best  preparation,  on  receiving  his  medical 
degree  he  spends  a  year  or  a  year  and  a  half  in  a 
hospital.  If  he  be  still  further  determined  to  pos- 
sess himself  of  the  best  training,  he  will  spend 
another  year  or  year  and  a  half  in  European 
schools  and  hospitals.  The  best-trained  medical 
student  has,  therefore,  usually  reached  the  age  of 
twenty-eight  or  thirty  before  he  begins  his  profes- 
sional career. 

The  question  at  once  emerges:  Is  the  age  of 
twenty-eight  too  old  for  the  doctor,  or  the  age 
of  twenty-six  too  old  for  the  lawyer,  to  enter  into 
life's  work?  This  question  suggests  a  second: 
Too  old  for  what?     Is  the  age  too  great  for  the 

308 


of  the  Twentieth  Century 

candidate,  or  is  it  too  great  for  the  interests  of 
American  life!  The  important  question  is,  of 
course,  whether  the  candidate  is  too  old  for  the  in- 
terests of  American  life.  I  cannot  believe  that  he 
is.  For  American  life  has  need  of  wise  counsel- 
ors and  directors  both  in  respect  to  person  and 
property.  The  need  of  American  life  is  not  of 
more  lawyers,  but  of  better  ones.  In  the  United 
Kingdom  there  is  1  medical  student  to  5286  of  the 
population ;  in  France,  1  to  7776  of  the  population ; 
in  Germany,  1  to  5757  of  the  population ;  in  the 
United  States  and  Canada  there  is  1  medical  stu- 
dent to  3365  of  the  population.1  America  has, 
speaking  in  round  numbers,  twice  as  many  doctors 
as  have  the  older  nations  of  Europe.  There  is 
hardly  a  town  or  city  in  the  United  States  in  which, 
if  the  number  of  doctors  and  lawyers  were  cut 
down  one-half,  the  one-half  could  not  well  and 
without  difficulty  meet  all  the  requirements  of  pro- 
fessional service.  It  would  be  a  distinct  advantage 
to  American  life  if  the  doctors  who  have  graduated 
from  the  farm  or  from  the  grocery  store  into  the 
medical  school  or  if  the  lawyers  who  have  come 
up— or  down— from  clerkships  in  drug  stores  would 
return  to  their  farms  or  their  counters.  Discipline 
as  well  as  culture,  training  as  well  as  intellect,  rep- 
resent elements  which  every  man  should  possess 
who  dares  to  offer  himself  as  the  savior  of  people's 
property  and  lives.  In  all  cases  of  litigation  and 
disease  no  service  is  too  good,  no  training  too  fine, 

1  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Public  Education,  1893-94,  Vol. 

I,  p.  982. 

21  ,™ 

309 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

no  discrimination  too  exact.  But  in  nnique  cases 
the  demand  for  training  and  wisdom  and  discrim- 
ination is  absolutely  imperative.  In  human  life, 
and  in  what  goes  along  with  human  life,  are  the  most 
precious  material  treasures  in  the  natural  world. 
Let  us,  therefore,  give  to  human  life  the  wisest 
skill  unto  its  preservation  and  enrichment. 

Therefore,  for  the  advantage  of  American  life, 
the  age  of  twenty-eight  or  thirty  is  not  one  whit 
too  advanced  for  the  doctor,  or  the  age  of  twenty- 
six  for  the  lawyer,  to  begin  his  professional  career. 
But  is  this  age,  be  it  asked,  too  old  for  the  advan- 
tage of  the  student  himself?  The  man  of  thirty 
has,  according  to  the  life-insurance  tables,  34.43 
years  to  live.  He  may,  therefore,  look  forward 
with  reason  to  thirty  years  of  service.  Should  he 
begin  his  service  four  years  sooner  he  would  simply 
have  four  years  more  for  service.  Now  four  years 
are  of  value.  They  represent  a  certain  quantity 
of  a  whole  career.  But  it  is  to  be  at  once  and 
strongly  said  that  to  put  these  four  years  into  en- 
riching the  quality  of  the  service  which  the  doctor 
or  the  lawyer  is  to  render  is  far  better  than  to  de- 
vote them  to  the  extension  of  the  time  of  that  ser- 
vice. It  is  far  better  for  the  practitioner,  and  also 
for  the  community,  to  make  the  service  abler  and 
wiser  than  to  make  it  longer. 

But,  of  course,  it  is  to  be  desired  that  law- 
yers and  doctors  and  clergymen  and  all  men 
should  enter  their  callings  at  as  early  an  age  as 
is  right.  Let  us  make  the  term  of  service  which 
all  good  men  render  to  humanity  as  long  as  it  can 

310 


of  the  Twentieth  Century 

be  made.  For  securing  this  result,  however,  it  is 
more  important  to  improve  the  education  of  the 
primary  school  and  the  grammar  than  to  abbrevi- 
ate the  undergraduate  course,  strong  as  may  be 
the  reasons  for  this  shortening. 

The  question,  therefore,  of  the  medical  school  and 
the  law  school  receiving  only  those  who  have  given 
themselves  the  advantage  of  a  liberal  education  is 
a  question  of  profound  significance  to  American 
life.  It  is  also,  in  particular,  a  question  of  gravity 
for  every  member  of  the  professional  Faculty  and 
for  every  member  of  the  Board  of  Trust  which 
manages  a  school  of  law  or  a  school  of  medicine. 
For  if  the  student  is  to  give  so  large  a  share  of  his 
life's  time  to  the  preparation  for  his  life's  service, 
if  he  come  up  to  the  law  school  or  to  the  school  of 
medicine  with  powers  well  trained,  with  the  capacity 
of  appreciation  large,  with  his  character  matured, 
he  has  a  right  to  demand  of  the  professional  school 
that  it  shall  give  to  him  advantages  adequate  to 
the  ripeness,  richness,  and  maturity  of  his  char- 
acter. It  is  simply  absurd  for  a  medical  school  or 
a  law  school,  such  as  can  be  found  in  many  of  our 
States,  to  demand  that  candidates  for  admission 
shall  have  a  college  training ;  for  the  schools  cannot 
offer  adequate  opportunities  to  men  of  these  ad- 
vanced attainments.  For  medical  schools,  such  as 
can  be  found  in  many  of  the  great  cities  of  this 
country,  to  ask  that  students  who  are  admitted 
shall  be  liberally  educated  is  quite  as  absurd  as 
for  a  high  school  in  New  York  or  Boston  to  re- 
quire  that   candidates   for  its   junior   class   shall 

3'i 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

have  already  taken  a  college  course.  The  medical 
college  which  demands  a  liberal  education  from 
candidates  for  admission  should  offer  as  good  teach- 
ing in  the  fundamental  branches  of  anatomy,  physi- 
ology, bacteriology,  chemistry,  histology,  materia 
medica,  therapeutics,  and  in  special  branches,  as 
these  candidates  themselves  have  received  in  Latin, 
mathematics,  philosophy,  German,  and  history  in 
the  undergraduate  colleges.  These  schools,  fur- 
thermore, should  offer  the  student  a  fitting  scho- 
lastic environment.  The  medical  college  should 
offer  to  him  hospitals  and  clinics  having  many  cases 
and  unique,  and  the  law  school  should  put  into  his 
hands  a  properly  equipped  library. 

For  schools  of  medicine  and  of  law  to  offer  the  stu- 
dent such  opportunities  requires,  primarily,  money 
— and  money,  too,  in  large  amounts.  Professional 
education  in  this  country  has  not  yet  received,  with 
the  exception  of  theological  education,  a  fitting  en- 
dowment. The  theological  schools  of  this  country 
are  now  possessed  of  about  $20,000,000  of  endow- 
ment, and  the  value  of  their  buildings  and  grounds 
is  about  $12,000,000.  Be  it  said,  also,  that  one- 
half  of  this  amount  is  found  vested  in  the  theolog- 
ical seminaries  of  the  North  Atlantic  States.  Of 
the  seminaries  of  the  various  churches  the  Presby- 
terian are  the  best  endowed.  About  one-fifth  of 
the  entire  amount  of  endowment  funds  of  churches 
in  America  are  found  belonging  to  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church.  This  endowment  allows  each  profes- 
sorship in  these  seminaries  to  have  about  $40,000 
in  case  there  were  an  equal  division  of  these  funds. 

312 


of  the  Twentieth  Century 

In  the  Congregational  and  Episcopal  churches  the 
endowment  would  be  about  $35,000  for  each  chair. 
But  the  endowment  of  the  medical  and  law  schools 
is  so  slight  that  one  hesitates  to  give  any  figures  at 
all.  In  fact,  the  endowment  is  so  slight  that  some 
schools  of  law  and  of  medicine  are  unwilling  to  re- 
veal their  poverty.  The  largest  endowment  in  this 
country  belongs  to  the  medical  school  of  Johns 
Hopkins  University;  the  next  largest  is  that  of 
Harvard  Medical  School ;  and  the  next  largest,  so  far 
as  reported,  is  that  of  Western  Reserve  University 
Medical  College.  In  a  recent  year  $1,500,000  was 
given  to  endow  professional  education  in  this  coun- 
try, and  of  this  sum  sixty- three  per  cent,  was  given 
to  schools  of  theology,  seventeen  per  cent,  to  schools 
of  medicine,  fourteen  per  cent,  to  schools  of  tech- 
nology, and  about  one  per  cent,  to  schools  of  law. 
For  the  improvement  of  professional  education  in 
medicine  and  law  the  American  people  must  give 
of  their  wealth  with  a  generosity  akin  to  that  with 
which  they  have  poured  out  their  millions  each 
year  to  the  undergraduate  colleges.  The  great 
need  of  American  life  at  the  present  time  is  better- 
trained  doctors  and  better-trained  lawyers.  This 
need  can  be  met  only  by  the  rich  endowment  of 
schools  for  the  training  of  doctors  and  lawyers; 
for  it  is  only  such  schools,  well  endowed  and  well 
equipped,  that  can  worthily  and  fittingly  ask  men 
of  a  liberal  education  to  become  their  students. 
The  next  movement  in  the  endowment  of  American 
education  should  be  directed  toward  the  schools  of 
law  and  the  schools  of  medicine. 

3U 


Administrative  and  Scholastic  Problems 

For  the  solution  of  all  these  administrative  and 
scholastic  questions  the  nineteenth  century  will 
transmit  to  the  new  age  one  condition  which  will 
prove  to  be  of  value  simply  priceless.  It  is  the 
public  and  special  interest  in  education.  Educa- 
tion has  come  to  be  recognized  as  one  of  the 
elemental  and  fundamental  forces  in  life.  It  has 
always  been  an  elemental  and  fundamental  force, 
but  it  has  not  always  been  recognized  as  such. 
It  now  takes  its  deserved  place  with  the  greatest. 
It  may  now  be  said  that  it  has  become  a  stronger 
force  than  the  church,  of  which  it  was  formerly 
a  function.  The  schoolmaster  is  indeed  abroad. 
He  was  formerly  abroad  on  foot ;  he  is  now  abroad 
in  the  saddle ;  he  is  a  commander  and  director  and 
leader.  In  no  department  of  life  has  there  been  a 
larger  increase  of  enthusiasm  or  a  nobler  develop- 
ment of  interest  or  an  adoption  of  wiser  methods. 
Such  a  condition  represents  the  best  force  for  the 
solution  of  the  problems  which  the  old  century 
gives  to  the  new. 


5i4 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Academic  freedom,  value  of,  90 

Academy  during  work  of  Freshman 
year,  292 

Adelbert  College  of  Western  Reserve 
University,  appointment  of  pro- 
fessors, 25,  26 

Administration,  college,  special  con- 
ditions and  methods  of,  85 

Administrative  problems  of  college 
in  twentieth  century,  261 

Age  of  students,  8,  307 

Alabama,  University  of,  allusion  to, 
119 

Alumni  associations,  39 

Alumni  in  relation  to  fraternities,  103, 
104 

Amen,  Principal,  quotation  from, 
292,  293 

American  life,  need  of,  277 

Amherst  College,  system  of  fines  in, 
117  ;  aid  for  students,  205 

Andover  Theological  Seminary,  235 

Andrews,  President,  resignation  of, 
94 

Antioch  College,  Horace  Mann  at,  146 

Arnold,  Matthew,  quotation  from, 
277 

Austin,  Edward,  allusion  to,  173,  214 

Baird,  William  R.,  quotation  from 
"American  College  Fraternities," 
105 

Baldwin,  Simeon  E.,  quotation  from, 
64 

Balfour,  F.  M.,  allusion  to,  286 

Barnard,  President,  allusion  to,  73 

Beers,  Professor  H.  A.,  quotation 
from,  99 

Benefactions  made  by  women,  170, 
171 

Benevolence,  motives  to,  178 ;  con- 
ditional, 186  ;  forms  of,  213 

Bowdoin  College,  aid  for  students,  205; 
location  of,  253 

Briggs,  Dean,  of  Harvard,  quotation 
from,  98,  99 


Brown   University,  appointment  of 
professors,  24 ;  aid  for  students,  205 
Bryn  Mawr  College,  allusion  to,  244 
Buchtel  College,  location  of,  253 
Bureau  of  Education,  allusion  to,  1 ; 
extracts  from  Reports  of,  300,  302, 
304,  309 


California,    University    of,   appoint- 
ment of  professors,  28 ;  allusion  to 
property  of,  162;  beneficences  to, 
178 ;  Regents,  41 
Cambridge,  city  of,  seat  of,  246,  248 
Cambridge  (England)  University, gov- 
ernment of,  43 ;  property  of,  166,  167 
Carnegie,  Andrew,  allusion   to,  172, 

174 
Carter,  President,  reference  to  life  of 

Mark  Hopkins  by,  127 
Cattell,  President,  of  Lafayette,  allu- 
sion to,  66 
Charity  Commissioners,  English,  233 
Chicago,  University  of,  appointment 
of  professors,  26 ;  foundation  of,  176 
Clap,  President,  allusion  to,  236 
Clergymen  as  college  officers,  34 
Colby  College,  allusion  to,  70, 179 
College,  three  types  of,  15 ;  constitu- 
tion of,  21  ;   difference  of,  from  a 
university,  96  ;  integrity  of,  292 
College  course,  shortening  of,  2  3 
Colonial  Government,  studies  in,  272 
Columbia    University,    appointment 
of  professors,  24,  25;    aid  for  stu- 
dents, 205 
Conditional  benevolence,  186 
Connecticut   laws  of  freedom  from 

taxation,  241,  242 
Constitution,  of   different  States  on 

freedom  from  taxation,  240 
Constitution  of  the  college,  21 
Cornell,  Ezra,  allusion  to,  174 
Cornell  University,  reserve  fund  of, 
163,  164 ;  aid  for  students,  205 ;  pro- 
fessional spirit  in,  273 


3»7 


Index 


Dartmouth  College,  appointment  of 
professors,  24;  of  trustees,  40;  aid 
for  students,  205 
Day,  President,  of  Yale,  characteriza- 
tion of,  78 
Differentiation  in  education,  293, 294 
Dormitories  in  relation  to  taxation, 

244,  245 
Drexel  Institute,  allusion  to,  172 
Dudley,  Paul,  will  of,  235 
Dunster,  President,  allusion  to,  49 
Dwight,  President,  jud.£rment  of,  29, 39 
Dwigbt,    President    (elder),  allusion 
to,  50 

Economics,  value  of  study  of,  272,  280 

Educated  leadership,  need  of,  183 

Education,  Bureau  of,  1 

Education,  liberal,  value  of,  to  pro- 
fessional students,  302 

Education,  organization  of,  l ;  differ- 
entiation in,  293  ;  public  interest  in, 
314 

Elective  system  of  studies,  268 

Eliot,  President,  Report  of  1874-75,  8 ; 
allusion  to,  65;  quotation  from,  72, 
194 ;  opinion  expressed  by.  158 

Endowment,  amount  of,  155 ;  made  by 
lotteries,  163 ;  misuse  of,  165  ;  origin 
and  conditions  of,  169 ;  made  by  those 
not  graduates,  173  ;  useless  though 
well  meant,  223 ;  need  of,  in  medical 
and  law  schools,  311 

English  benevolence,  charitable  and 
domestic,  234 

English  Charity  Commissioners,  233 

English  education,  3,  4 

English,  value  of  study  of,  272,  281, 
282 

Everett,  Edward,  allusion  to,  38 

Faculty,  nature  and  work  of,  22,  23,  29 

Fawcett,  Henry,  allusion  to,  71 

Fayerweather,  D.  B.,  allusion  to,  172, 
173,  177 

Finch,  Judge  F.  M.,  quotation  from, 
175,  176 

Fines,  pecuniary,  115 

Fisher,  Professor  George  P.,  quota- 
tion from,  76,  77 

Foxwell,  Professor,  St.  John's  Col- 
lege, quotation  from,  95,  96 

France,  professional  training  in,  306, 
307 

Fraternity,  99 

Freedom  from  taxation,  240 

Freedom  in  college,  90, 149 


Friendship  in  college,  103 

Georgia,  University  of,  196 
Germany,    education    in,   4;    profes- 
sional training  in,  306,  307 
Oilman,  President,  quotation  from,  2, 

3,208 
Gladstone,  W.  E.,  allusion  to,  286 
Good-fellowship,  value  of,  in  college, 

101 
Gordon,  General,  memorial  to,  181 
Government,  Colonial,  studies  in,  272 
Government  of  students,  113 
Graduate  School,  position  of,  98,  99, 
286,  287 

Hallam,  Arthur,  allusion  to,  102,  286 

Hamilton  College,  allusion  to,  163 

Happiness  of  college  officers  and  stu- 
dents, value  of,  88 

Harper,  President  W.  R.,  allusion  to, 
55  ;  quotation  from,  165 

Harvard  College,  clubs  in,  99;  early 
government  of  students,  113  ;  rebel- 
lion in,  120 ;  proportion  of  students 
from  different  schools,  134;  "Ad- 
visers "  at,  138  ;  property  of,  158, 159  ; 
increase  of  property  of,  166 ;  aid  for 
students,  205;  Dudleyan  foundation, 
235,  236;  exemption  from  taxation, 
243,  248  ;  elective  system,  268  ;  doc- 
tors of  philosophy  at,  287 

Hinsdale,  Professor  B.  A.,  compen- 
diums  by,  167 

History,  value  of  study  of,  272,  280, 
281 

Hitchcock,  Professor  B.  D.,  allusion 
to, 177 

Hopkins,  President  Mark,  wisdom  of, 
127 

Hlinois,  University  of,  appointment 
of  professors,  26,  27  ;  of  trustees,  40 
Income  spent  in  two  forms,  164 
Indigent  students,  aid  to,  199;  loans 
to,  215 ;  principles  about  giving,  222, 
223 
Individuality,  principle  of,  262 
Investments,  forms  of,  157 ;  regular 
income  from,  158;  good  character  of, 
161 ;  for  indigent  students,  199 

Johns  Hopkins  University,  appoint- 
ment of  professors,  25 

Jordon,  President  D.  S.,  quotation 
from,  72,  73 

Judgment,  good,  value  of,  183 


3I8 


Index 


Justice,  importance  of,  to  American 
people,  303 

Kansas,  University  of,  appointment 

of  professors,  27 
Keane,  Right  Rev.  Bishop,  236 
Kenny,  C.  8.,  quotations  from,  223,  228 
Kingsley,  W.  L.,  references  to  history 

of  Yale  College,  77,  78 
Kipling,  Rudyard,  allusion  to,  288 
Kirkland,  President,  allusion  to,  50 

Ladd,    Professor    G.    T.,    quotations 

from,  11 
Lawrence,  Abbott,  letter  to,  197, 198 
Lawrence,  Amos,  letter  from,  197,  198 
Law  schools,  297 

Leadership,  educated,  need  of,  183,  285 
Library  college,  object  of  benevolence, 

191 
Loans  to  students,  215 ;  rules  about 

making,  220 
Lotteries  as  a  method  of  endowing 

colleges,  163 
Low,  President  Seth,  allusion  to,  74; 

quotation  from,  192 
Loyalty  to  college,  value  of,  87 

Maine,  laws  of,  on  taxation  of  college 
property,  255,  256 

Mann,  Horace,  work  of,  at  Antioch 
College,  146 

Massachusetts  General  Hospital,  suit 
Of,  247 

Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technolo- 
gy, allusion  to,  214 

Massachusetts,  laws  of,  on  freedom 
from  taxation,  241 

Mathematics,  value  of,  in  training, 
279 

McCay,  Charles  P.,  Fund,  196, 197 

McCosh,  President,  allusion  to,  55,  73 

Medical  schools,  297 

Memorial  motive  in  benevolence,  179 

Mill,  John  Stuart,  quotation  from, 
238,  239 

Minnesota,  University  of,  appoint- 
ment of  professors,  27,  28;  of  Re- 
gents, 41 

Money,  good  and  evil  of,  178,  179 

Morley,  Professor  E.  \\\,  allusion  to, 
74 

Motives  to  benevolence,  178 

Nebraska,    University    of,    appoint- 
ment of  professors,  27 ;  of  Regents,  41 
Need,  financial,  relative  term,  211 


Newman,  J.  T.,  quotation  from,  72,  73, 
158, 159 

New  York  laws  on  freedom  from  taxa- 
tion, 242 

Normal  schools,  14 

Northwestern  University,  exemption 
of,  from  taxation,  243,  250 

Norton,  Andrews,  allusion  to,  38 

Nott,  President  E.,  allusion  to,  129 

Ohio,  laws  of,  on  taxation  of  college 
property,  242,  250 

Organization  of  education  in  United 
States,  1 

"  Oxford,  Aspects  of  Modern,"  quota- 
tion from,  44 

Oxford  University,  government  of, 
43 ;  property  of,  166, 167 

Parsons  College,  location  of,  253 
Pattison,  Mark,  allusion  to,  68,  69 
Peabody,  George,  allusion  to,  172 
Pearsons,  Dr.  D.  K.,  allusion  to,  174 
Peirce,  Benjamin,  suit  of,  versus  Cam- 
bridge, 246 
Peirce,  B.  O.,  allusion  to,  74 
Pennsylvania,  University  of,  appoint- 
ment of  professors,  25 ;  of  trustees, 
40 ;  aid  for  students,  205 
Pepper,  Provost,  allusion  to,  66,  75,  76 
Personality  of  teacher,  5 
Personality,  worth  of,  66, 103 
Phi  Beta  Kappa,  108 
Phillips    Academy,  Andover,  quota- 
tion from  constitution  of,  212 
Phillips  Exeter  Academy,  quotation 

from  principal  of,  292, 293 
Philosophy,  value  of,  in  training,  283 
Physician,  public  trustee,  305,  306 
Porter,  President,  quotation  from,  30, 

31,  34-36 
Pratt  Institute,  allusion  to,  172 
President,  the  college,  types  of,  49; 
as  an  administrator,  53  ;  as  a  finan- 
cier, 53  ;  holding  relations  with  Fac- 
ulty,  Trustees,    students,    alumni, 
people,  55 ;  cooperation  of,  62 ;  as  a 
leader,  64 ;  personality  of,  66  ;  in  re- 
lation to  whole  educational  system, 
67;  independence  of,  68;  as  a  judge 
of  men,  71 ;   ;is  a  scholar,  73;  com- 
manding; public  confidence,  74  ;  as  a 
trustee  for  the  people,  75;  wisdom 
of,  77,  78;  satisfaction  of  being,  78 
Price  Qreenleaf  Aid  Fund,  211,  214 
Princeton  University,  source  of  Ses- 


3»9 


Index 

quicentennial  Fund  of,  177;  aid  for  Sturtevant,  President   J.  M.,  quota- 
otiiflpTits  205  tionlrom,  206,207 

Pro  eSo^l  school  in  relation  to  col-  Supervision  of   students  greater  in 

lege,  292  preparatory  school,  295,  296 

Professional  schools,  of  law,  medicine,  Tappari)  president,  allusion  to,  66 

theology,  297  Taxation,  freedom  from,  240 

Professional  students,  297  Teacher,  personality  of,  5 ;  training 

Professors,  methods  of  appointment,      of    12 .  ilup0rtanee  of  vitality  of, 
23;  as  college  governors,  38;  happi-      ^ 
ness  of,  88,  89  Theological  schools,  297 

Time,  value  of,  to  professional  stu- 
Quiney,  President  Josiah,  allusion  to,      dentB>  307 
49;  quotation  from,  114;  reference  Trustees  nature  and  work  of  boards 
to  "History  of  Harvard  University,"      of>  21 

236  Tucker,  President,  quotation  from,  40 

Tulane  University,  allusion  to,  155 
Rebellions,  college,  118  Turcot,  allusion  to,  224 

Rights,  natural,  ot  students,  118  Twcntieth  century,  educational  prob- 

Robinson,  President,  allusion  to,  51       -1  of   261 

Rochester  University,  allusion  to,  155,  Tyler,s  „  'H1story  0f  Amherst  College," 

159  ,     .  .„„        miotations  from,  104, 118 

Rockefeller,  John  D.,  allusion  to,  186        quotation 

Rogers,  President  W.  B.,  quotation  Union  Theological  Seminary,  allusion 

from,  70  t0>  172 

Unit  of  education,  the  student,  4 

Sage,  H.  W.,  allusion  to,  175, 176, 191      Unityi  vaiue  of,  in  coUege,  85;  prin- 

Salaries  of  college  officers,  164, 165  ciple  of;  262 

Scholastic  questions  of  twentieth  cen-  universities,  English,  government  of, 

tury,  261  43 .  property  of,  166, 167 

Science,  value  of,  in  training,  278,  279  Universitie8,    German,    government 

Scientific  schools,  291  of  45.  resources  of,  167 

Scott,  Walter,  allusion  to,  286,  288  University,  difference  of,  from  a  col- 

Seelye,  President  J.    H.,   quotation      legC)  96 

from,  104 

Sewall,  Judge,  quotation   from   his  vassal-  College,  first  president  of,  65 ; 

diary,  113  allusion  to,  244 

Sheffield  Scientific  School,  allusion  to  Virginia,  University  of,  rebellion  in, 

gift  to,  198  124 

Slocum,  President,  allusion  to,  75  Vitality  in  the  teacher,  288 

Smith,  Adam,  quotation  from,  225  . 

Snfith  College,  allusion  to,  244  Wabash  College,  allusion  to,  157 

ISuervSle!  city  of,  suit  of,  247  Wallace,  G.  B.,  quotation  from,  107 

Stanford,  Leland,  University,  endow-  Ware,  Henry,  allusion  to,  38 

™™t  of  177  178  Waring,  George  E.,  allusion  to,  181 

State  e?ch  In  educational  unit,  1  Washington  and  Lee  University -169 

ftfphen  Lerfie,  quotation  from,  71       Wayland,  President,  allusion  to,  50, 

■^J»^*X£S  ~  Professor,  of  Clark  Univer- 

Students,  unit  of  education,  4 ;  age  of,  wSley  College,  f™^toW 
8   happiness  of,  89,  90;  government  Westeyan  Academy,  Wilbiaham,  suit 

°J  ST'ST*""  °f' 149''  9UPerVi8i°n  w°esleyln  University,  allusion  to,  155 
Sadies'    aw  of   returns  of,  266;    in  Western  Reserve  University,  appoint- 

320 


Index 


William  and  Mary  College,  Phi  Beta  Wood,  President,  of  Bo wdoin, allusion 

Kappa  at,  108  to,  73 

Williams  College,  appointment  of  pro-  Woolsey,  President  T.  D.,  quotation 

fessors,  23, 24 ;  of  Trustees,  39 ;  rebel-  from,  78 ;  allusion  to,  282 

lion  in,  125 ;  suit  of,  247,  248 
Williamstowu,  town  of,  suit  of,  248  Yale  University,  appointment  of  pro- 
Wisconsin,    University    of,    appoint-  fessors,  23 ;  of  Trustees,  39  ;  purpose 

ment  of  professors,  27 ;  of  Kegents,  of  foundation,  76,  77 ;  clubs  in,  99 ; 

40,  41  rebellions  in,  120;  increase  of  funds 

Witherspoon,  President,  allusion  to,  of,  165 ;  aid  for  students,  205 ;  gifts 

74  to  reflect  contemporary  conditions, 

Women,  college  benefactors,  170, 171  236 


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